CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Church of England: Green Issues

Nick Hurd: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what payments the Church Commissioners have made to Green Issues in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Stuart Bell: In promoting strategic development opportunities, the commissioners use a wide range of professional advisers, including public consultation consultants, and I can confirm that Green Issues is one of the firms used.
	The firm's primary role is to organise the public consultation associated with the promotion of major development proposals, including exhibitions and workshops, as well as liaising with various third parties such as local councillors. However, the terms of engagement are commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be deposited in the Library.
	Public consultation is, of course, part of the statutory planning process but we also view it as a welcome opportunity to engage with local communities.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Costs

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has charged  (a) other Government departments,  (b) private sector companies and  (c) foreign governments in employment costs for members of (i) his Department's civilian staff, (ii) the MOD Police Service, (iii) MOD Police and Guarding Agency and (iv) military personnel of the (A) Royal Navy, (B) Royal Marines, (C) Army and (D) Royal Air Force in each of the last five years.

Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Charges for personnel services are levied against outside bodies in accordance with the principles set out by HM Treasury in chapter 6 of Managing Public Money which requires that full costs should normally be recovered for any goods and services provided by MOD.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many  (a) officers and  (b) personnel in other ranks in each regular infantry and Royal Marine battalion were unfit for duty at the latest date for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the  (a) required and  (b) actual trained strength is of each (i) regular infantry and (ii) Royal Marine battalion.

Kevan Jones: Unfit for duty has been interpreted as medically unfit to perform any duty. Personnel unfit for duty in their primary role but who can perform a role in an alternative capacity are not included in the following tables.
	The figures given include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Separate figures for infantry officers and soldiers are not held centrally.
	As at 1 October, the figures requested for the infantry are provided as follows.
	
		
			  Division  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Number unfit for duty 
			 Guards 1 Grenadier Guards 632 586 4 
			  1 Coldstream Guards 626 606 6 
			  1 Scots Guards 753 665 1 
			  1 Irish Guards 633 629 6 
			  1 Welsh Guards 626 608 12 
			  
			 SCOTS 1 SCOTS 630 556 2 
			  2 SCOTS 627 518 3 
			  3 SCOTS 630 625 11 
			  4 SCOTS 686 584 1 
			  5 SCOTS 657 542 2 
			  
			 Queens 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 755 722 2 
			  2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 671 600 2 
			  1 Royal Regt Fusiliers 660 573 6 
			  2 Royal Regt Fusiliers 626 548 13 
			  1 Royal Anglian 713 734 9 
			  2 Royal Anglian 629 628 2 
			  
			 Kings 1 LANCS 757 721 8 
			  2 LANCS 612 622 5 
			  1 YORKS incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 3 686 605 2 
			  2 YORKS 623 493 2 
			  3 YORKS 751 608 15 
			  
			 Prince of Wales 1 Mercian incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 2 731 648 2 
			  2 Mercian 623 614 10 
			  3 Mercian 678 606 4 
			  1 Royal Welsh 623 611 4 
			  2 Royal Welsh 751 687 6 
			  
			 RIFLES 1 RIFLES 623 712 5 
			  2 RIFLES 623 730 35 
			  3 RIFLES 623 662 12 
			  4 RIFLES 711 752 8 
			  5 RIFLES 752 770 3 
			  
			 Royal Irish 1 Royal Irish 650 586 9 
			  
			 PARA 2 PARA 650 624 14 
			  3 PARA 650 625 7 
			  
			 Royal Gurkha Rifles 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles 643 619 8 
			  2 Royal Gurkha Rifles 758 658 4 
		
	
	In addition to the battalions shown above there are three incremental guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other guards battalions as required;
	
		
			  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Number unfit for duty 
			 Nijmegen Coy Grenadier Gds 108 107 1 
			 7 Coy Coldstream Gds 108 97 1 
			 F Coy Scots Guards 110 106 4 
		
	
	The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen.
	Figures for Royal Marine Commandos units are shown in the table below. Due to changes in the way in which the Royal Navy records its sick personnel, it is not possible to identify the number of Royal Marine personnel who are currently unfit to perform any duty.
	
		
			  Unit   Required strength  Actual strength 
			 40 Commando Officers (1)703 33 
			  Other ranks (1)- 626 
			 
			 42 Commando Officers (1)703 37 
			  Other ranks (1)- 617 
			 
			 45 Commando Officers (1)703 33 
			  Other Ranks (1)- 637 
			 (1) Represents a brace

WORK AND PENSIONS

Motability

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vehicles were  (a) purchased by and  (b) leased by people resident in (i) Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, (ii) the Highlands, (iii) Scotland and (iv) England and Wales under the Motability Scheme in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Motability is an independent charitable company and is responsible for the administration of the Motability Scheme. They have written separately to the hon. Member with such information as they have available.

New Deal for Young People

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 11 November 2009,  Official Report, column 583W, on work experiences: young people, how many places were available on each option in the New Deal for Young People in each of the last 24 months.

Jim Knight: The availability of places on the new deal for young persons is demand-led; therefore the new deal providers ensure there are sufficient placements to meet the needs of Jobcentre Plus customers requiring the support given by any particular option.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many bids her Department has received for Flexible New Deal Phase 2 contracts; and how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department are responsible for analysing and evaluating bids submitted for Phase 2 Flexible New Deal contracts.

Jim Knight: To date, the Department has not received any bids. The deadline for flexible new deal phase 2 bids to be submitted to DWP is 6 January 2010.
	The number of full-time equivalent staff likely to be involved in the evaluation will be influenced by the number of tenders that are actually returned and will include staff from across several expert domains.

Remploy: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what payments Remploy has made to  (a) Portland PR and  (b) Greenhause Public Communication in each of the last three years; for what purposes; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Jonathan R Shaw: Remploy has made total payments to Portland PR of £174,680 between 2007 and 2009.
	In 2007-08 the amount was £160,665 for public affairs strategy and communications work. £35,000 of this spend was specifically for factory closure communications.
	In 2008-09 the amount spent was £14,015 for the public affairs strategy and communications programme.
	In 2007 Remploy made a payment to Greenhause Public Communication to a total of £12,277.50. This was paid for public affairs work.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Freedom of Information

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received in 2008; and how many of these received a substantive response within 20 days.

Ann McKechin: Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on Freedom of Information in central Government for 2008 show that of a total of 111 non-routine requests received by the Department (based on aggregated quarterly data) 71 per cent. (79) received a substantive response within 20 days. 78 per cent. (87) of requests were dealt with 'in time', that is within 20 days by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
	The statistics can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm
	and copies are available in the Library.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on  (a) alcohol and  (b) entertainment in the last 12 months.

Ann McKechin: The information is not held in the form requested; however, in 2008-09 the Scotland Office spent £15,158 on hospitality.

Departmental Publicity

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on  (a) Ministerial photoshoots and  (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on ministerial photoshoots or production of videos in the last three years.

Departmental Written Questions

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many questions tabled for answer on a named day his Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions his Department provided a substantive answer on the day named.

Ann McKechin: Details of the number of questions tabled for answer on a named day and those that received a substantive answer on the day named are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of named day questions tabled  Percentage of named day questions that received a substantive answer on the day named 
			 December 2008 2 100 
			 January 2009 1 100 
			 February 2009 0 n/a 
			 March 2009 11 90 
			 April 2009 5 100 
			 May 2009 1 0 
			 June 2009 0 n/a 
			 July 2009 6 100 
			 August 2009 0 n/a 
			 September 2009 0 n/a 
			 October 2009 0 n/a 
			 November 2009 2 100 
		
	
	Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the "Guide to Parliamentary Work", at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentary-clerk-guide.aspx
	In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on hotel accommodation for  (a) Ministers,  (b) special advisers and  (c) civil servants in each of the last five years.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not separately record expenditure on hotel accommodation from other forms of subsistence such as meal allowances, day subsistence, incidental expenses and motor mileage.
	All travel and subsistence is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Department of Resources: Finance

Christopher Chope: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much money was owed to the House of Commons Department of Resources by  (a) hon. Members,  (b) Officers of the House and  (c) the Press Gallery Committee for expenditures incurred on catering and retail goods and services on 1 September 2009.

Nick Harvey: It is not possible to provide the figures requested as at 1 September, except at disproportionate cost. This is because the database changes every day and the figures are only readily available if the data for a particular day have been retained. Reconstructing the data for a past day for which the data have not been retained would be an extremely time-consuming exercise involving a lot of manual adjustments to the data.

Speaker's Adviser

Kate Hoey: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission whether Mr. Speaker's special adviser has claimed any expenses for travel since his appointment.

Nick Harvey: No expenses of any kind have been claimed.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Creativity and Business International Network: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of his budget for c&binet for 2009-10 was spent on the event held at The Grove between 26 and 28 October 2009.

Ben Bradshaw: The gross costs of planning and staging the event at The Grove accounted for approximately 40 per cent. of the budget allocated to c&binet during 2009-10. The investment to develop a network of key professionals in the creative industries also contributed to the success of the event. DCMS is currently in discussions with private sector companies to take forward the project. This has allowed us to reduce the overall budget from £3 million to £2 million over the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Departmental Sick Leave

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many days of sick leave were taken by staff in his Department and its agency in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of such sick leave.

Si�n Simon: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of working days lost due to sickness during the period from  1 December 2008 to 30 November 2009 
			   DCMS  The Royal Parks  Total 
			  20008
			 December 134 52 186 
			 
			  2009
			 January 152 37 189 
			 February 88 33 121 
			 March 115 32 147 
			 April 154 9 163 
			 May 148 20 168 
			 June 149 15 164 
			 July 175 54 229 
			 August 215 52 267 
			 September 211 64 275 
			 October 149 95 244 
			 November 76 60 136 
			 Total 1,766 523 2,289 
		
	
	
		
			  Cost of sickness for the period from 1 December 2008 to 30 November 2009 
			  £ 
			   DCMS  The Royal Parks  Total 
			  20008
			 December 23,852 9,256 33,108 
			 
			  2009
			 January 27,056 6,586 33,642 
			 February 15,664 5,874 21,538 
			 March 20,470 5,696 26,166 
			 April 28,182 1,647 29,829 
			 May 27,084 3,660 30,744 
			 June 27,267 2,745 30,012 
			 July 32,025 9,882 41,907 
			 August 39,345 9,515 48,860 
			 September 38,613 11,712 50,325 
			 October 27,267 17,385 44,652 
			 November 13,908 10,980 24,888 
			 Total 320,733 94,938 415,671

Film: Israel

Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to sign the co-production treaty concerning the film industry with the Government of Israel.

Si�n Simon: We hope to conclude negotiations with Israel on a film co-production agreement and to be able to announce arrangements for the signing of this agreement soon.

Grayling Political Strategy: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments Arts Council East has made to Grayling Political Strategy in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Margaret Hodge: Arts Council England has advised the following position on the subject of expenditure relating to Regional Cities East (RCE).
	Regional Cities East is a partnership between Colchester borough council, Ipswich borough council, Luton borough council, Norwich city council, Peterborough city council, Southend-on-Sea borough council, Arts Council England East and the East of England Development Agency.
	In 2008-09, RCE had an overall budget of £120,000 from the partners, including a £60,000 contribution from Arts Council East, to promote the world class arts and cultural assets of these key cities.
	In November 2008 Colchester borough council, as budget holder for Regional Cities East, contracted Grayling to deliver the first stage of this programme. Their fee was £90,876.00 + VAT for an initial 12 months from 1 November 2008 to 31 October 2009 and this resulted in press coverage equivalent to an editorial value of £334,000.
	ACE East has had no contract with Grayling.

Olympic Legacy Board

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the membership is of the new Olympic Legacy board announced in his Department's press release of 2 October 2009; how many times the board has met; and on how many occasions  (a) Sir Steve Redgrave and  (b) each of the other six Olympic and Paralympic medallists has attended the board's meetings.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Sport Legacy Delivery Board is made up of senior representatives from:
	London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
	UK Sport
	Youth Sport Trust
	Sportscoach UK
	Sport England
	Sportscotland
	Sports Council for Wales
	Sport Northern Ireland
	Local Government Association
	Nations and Regions Board
	Paralympics GB
	British Olympic Association
	British Paralympic Association
	National Governing Bodies of Sport
	Central Council of Physical Recreation
	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
	Government Olympic Executive.
	Sir Steve Redgrave is also a member, and the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families are auxiliary members.
	The board has met twice since October 2009 and is due to meet again in January, February and March 2010. Sir Steve has attended one meeting; the School Sports Ambassadors have not attended either meeting.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Christmas

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including its arms length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and NDPBs, does not hold the information required to answer this question because budget information is not broken down to this level of detail.

Employment: Religion

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) Catholics and  (b) Protestants were employed in the (i) private and (ii) public sectors in Northern Ireland in each of the past 30 years; how many Catholics and Protestants were employed in the (A) Fire Service, (B) Police Service and (C) Civil Service in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of the working age population of each community each of these figures represented.

Paul Goggins: Employment figures for the total number of Catholics and Protestants employed by the private and public sectors in Northern Ireland and for the proportions of each community that these figures represent are a matter for the Northern Ireland Administration; figures relating to the Fire Service and Northern Ireland Civil Service are also a matter for the Northern Ireland Administration.
	The Chief Constable has provided the following table which gives the number of Catholics and Protestants employed as police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.
	
		
			   Regular police officers   
			   Protestant  Catholic  Not  d etermined  As a percentage of total economically active  P rotestants( 1)  As a percentage of total economically active Catholics( 1) 
			 2000 7,517 713 286 1.87 0.24 
			 2001 7,365 706 281 1.83 0.24 
			 2002 6,334 642 251 1.58 0.21 
			 2003 6,117 840 236 1.52 0.28 
			 2004 6,088 1,018 226 1.52 0.34 
			 2005 6,025 1,265 206 1.50 0.42 
			 2006 5,868 1,427 197 1.46 0.48 
			 2007 5,759 1,588 195 1.43 0.53 
			 2008 5,480 1,743 185 1.36 0.58 
			 2009 5,305 1,904 184 1.32 0.64 
			 (1) This information has been derived from the Summary Report of Northern Ireland 2001 Population Census. Economically active persons are those aged 16 to 64. Total number of economically active Protestants-401,473; Total number of economically active Catholics-299,218.

Irish Language

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to Annex B of the St. Andrews Agreement of October 2006, what steps the Government plans to take to fulfil the commitment to introduce legislation on the Irish language, reflecting on the experience of Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Paul Goggins: Annex B of the St. Andrews Agreement committed the Government to introducing an Irish Language Act, reflecting on the experience of Wales and Ireland, and to work with the Executive to enhance and protect the development of the Irish language.
	The Government took forward this commitment through the publication of two consultation papers in December 2006 and March 2007 setting out their proposed approach to an Irish Language Act. The latter included draft clauses.
	Following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007, the responsibility in this area passed to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive.
	The Northern Ireland Executive was placed under a statutory duty, by the Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) Act 2006, to adopt a strategy to enhance and protect the development of Irish language. The Executive has a similar statutory duty to enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture.
	The Government recognise the close connection between language and identity issues, and understand the concern of individuals to see that the language in which they were brought up, or which is used in their communities, is respected. They therefore believe that these statutory duties are of particular importance and encourage the Executive to complete and publish their strategies.
	The Government reaffirmed, at the British-Irish Council on 13 November 2009, their commitment to work with the Executive to support the development and implementation of strategies for Irish language and Ulster Scots and are continuing to work with other Administrations through the British-Irish Council to share best practice on the enhancement and protection of minority languages.
	In addition, the Government are seeking views in their consultation paper A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland: Next Steps on what additional legislative protections in relation to the Irish language might be included in a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.
	Work is also being taken forward in relation to Irish language broadcasting. The British and Irish Governments hope shortly to sign a memorandum of understanding which will contain commitments to the continuing widespread availability of TG4 in Northern Ireland following the digital switchover, and to exploring the increased availability of RTE in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Courts Service: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what payments the Northern Ireland Courts Service has made to Stratagem in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	The Northern Ireland Court Service has not had a contract with Stratagem since March 2009. Between December 2008 and March 2009 the Court Service made payments totalling £1,479.50 to Stratagem for the provision of political monitoring.

Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what payments the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission has made to Weber Shandwick in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	During the last 12 months the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission has made payments to Weber Shandwick-Belfast totalling £52 582.84 for communication services for the period May 2008 to August 2009.
	A statement of the remit, scope and terms of reference for the contract has been placed in the Library.

Offenders: Deportation

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 4 November 2009,  Official Report, column 1039W, on devolution 
	(1)  whether primary legislation would be required to provide for a reserve power to block the repatriation of foreign national prisoners from Northern Ireland following the devolution of criminal justice and policing; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what circumstances would constitute grounds of national security for the purpose of exercising a reserve power to block the repatriation of foreign national prisoners from Northern Ireland following the devolution of criminal justice and policing; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: While the repatriation of foreign prisoners will become the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Minister for Justice after the devolution of criminal justice and policing, decisions on the grounds of national security will, however, remain excepted.
	New primary legislation would not be required. The grounds of national security would be interpreted consistently with case law.

Terrorism: Compensation

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much compensation has been paid out to those affected by terrorist activity in Northern Ireland in each year since 1979.

Paul Goggins: The Compensation Agency is unable to provide the information requested, as the records held do not identify separately claims made as a result of terrorist activity.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Climate Change

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent assessment is of the effectiveness of the UK's adaptation to climate change; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Norris: Since the Climate Change Act came into force earlier this year, we have:
	launched the UK Climate Projections 09
	established the Adaptation Sub Committee; and
	set out the strategy for using the Adaptation Reporting Power
	The Adapting to Climate Change Programme is driving work on the first UK Climate Change Risk Assessment which will report in January 2012, in line with the timetable set out in the 2009 Act.

Food Labelling

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on country of origin food labelling.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues and the Food Standards Agency to ensure that we have tighter, clearer and more accurate origin labelling.

Waste-to-Energy Plants

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to increase the use of waste-to-energy plants; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Norris: The Government's Renewable Energy Strategy sets out current and future policies to divert biomass waste from landfill, support the supply of biomass waste for energy, and drive the delivery of the necessary infrastructure.
	DEFRA has established the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme to support local authorities and accelerate the building of the infrastructure needed to treat residual waste.

Biodiversity

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department  (a) concluded and  (b) expects to publish its most recent assessment of the status of the Biodiversity Action Plan, Priority Species and Priority Habitats.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The most recent assessment of the status of Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species and Habitats was published in April 2009, as part of the update to the UK Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket. This can be found on the website of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Biodiversity

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures he has put in place to halt biodiversity loss beyond the expiry of the EU's 2010 targets; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: We are fully committed to identifying a new challenging 'post 2010' biodiversity target and we are playing a leading role in establishing it. For example, earlier this year, we hosted an international workshop in Reading which reviewed the 2010 indicators and considered implications for post 2010 indicator development. We have also been feeding into key discussions at EU and global level on the development of the post 2010 framework. Linked to this, we will co-host an international workshop with Brazil in January. This will be a key stepping stone on the path to agreeing a post 2010 target, or targets, in Japan next October.
	Within the UK, we have published targets to increase the population and range of our priority species and restore and expand priority habitats by 2015.

Biodiversity

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of progress since February 2009 towards meeting the objectives set out in the EU's 2010 targets to halt biodiversity loss; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The European Commission and member states are currently compiling data to allow an assessment next year of progress against the targets in the EU Biodiversity Action Plan. We measure our progress towards the EU's 2010 target to halt biodiversity loss through the UK Biodiversity Indicators. This was reported in the National Statistics publication Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket 2007, which was updated most recently in April 2009. Statistics for wild birds were updated in October 2009 and those for sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) are updated monthly.
	Overall, 23 (72 per cent.) of the 32 measures that comprise the UK Biodiversity Indicators are improving or show little or no overall change since the year 2000. In particular, 89 per cent. of SSSIs are in favourable or recovering condition, agri-environment schemes are leading to significant improvements, and we have made great strides with the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.

Fisheries: White Fish

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultation his Department undertook with the under 10 metre fishing industry regarding the introduction of the 500kg cod lottery draw.

Huw Irranca-Davies: No formal consultation exercise was undertaken with the 10 metre and under fishing industry about the allocation of the additional 18 tonnes of cod quota in area VIId. It was not possible given the very short time available to arrange access to the additional fishing opportunity and still allow fishermen a reasonable chance to catch the fish before the end of the year.
	The Marine and Fisheries Agency did, however, consult a number of individual fishermen on the south coast of England on a strictly informal basis on alternative allocation approaches before the final method of allocation was decided upon.

Fisheries: White Fish

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent assessment is of the likely effects on the under 10 metre fishing industry of the introduction of the 500kg cod lottery draw.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The additional 18 tonnes of quota the Marine and Fisheries Agency was able to obtain for the inshore vessels to fish for cod in area VIId will prove a valuable, if limited, fishing opportunity for those vessels that received the quota. It is estimated that the additional quota will have a total value of c.£36,000 at current market prices, or £1,000 for each vessel that receives an allocation of 500kg of quota. An allocation of 500kg of quota per vessel should allow those vessels to undertake normal fishing activity and minimise discards in a mixed fishery until the end of the year.
	Given the strictly limited quota available, it was not possible to open the fishery to all the licensed vessels that may have wished to take part in the fishery and remain confident of meeting the UK obligations in ensuring there is no overfish of this quota.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of Ofwat's final determination on the ability of water companies to provide alternative water supplies in the event of contamination of usual supplies by flooding; and what recent assessment he has made of the capacity of water companies to increase the resilience of their water treatment plants to flooding.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Water companies have to provide a safe and secure water supply. It is for the companies themselves to take responsibility and make decisions on how best to protect the essential services they supply.
	In its final determination Ofwat included over £414 million to improve the resilience of water and sewerage services against external hazards such as flooding.
	Companies are also obliged to have emergency plans in place to maintain supply either through network resilience or deployment of bowsers, for which Ofwat has also allowed funding.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the chief engineers and regional engineers in each region of England are no longer in place; and what alternative structure is in place for the carrying out of their functions.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has given the Environment Agency a strategic overview of flood and coastal erosion risk management and, in line with this, passed it the management of the capital improvements programme. The chief engineer and regional engineers were primarily focused on this work.
	To facilitate this transition the Environment Agency has strengthened its role at both regional and area levels, for example, by recruiting additional coastal engineers. DEFRA also seconded staff to the Environment Agency to ensure continuity of work and training.
	DEFRA retains a smaller cadre of engineers and other experienced professionals who provide input to policy development and an intelligent client function for the flood and coastal erosion risk management programme.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people are registered with Floodline Warnings Direct.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency has over 450,000 registered users on Floodline Warnings Direct.
	The Environment Agency's Floodline Warnings Direct is a free service that provides flood warnings direct to users by telephone, mobile, email, SMS text message and fax.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects a final national flood emergency framework to be implemented.

Huw Irranca-Davies: A fully developed National Flood Emergency Framework will be in place by June 2010, in line with the commitment given in response to Sir Michael Pitt's review on the 2007 floods. The Framework will provide the basis for Exercise Watermark-our planned national exercise in March 2011.

Flood Control

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on flood defences in each of the last five years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA provides funding to operating authorities for flood defences from the allocation of funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management. Over the past five financial years this allocation totalled:
	
		
			  Financial year  DEFRA funding (£ million) 
			 2008-09 568.1 
			 2007-08 507.5 
			 2006-07 506.0 
			 2005-06 514.8 
			 2004-05 415.4

Forests

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received on the proposed sites for tree-planting as recommended by the National Assessment of Forestry and Climate Change.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The National Assessment of Forestry and Climate Change published on 25 November does not put forward any specific sites for tree planting and we have not received any representations.
	Our Strategy for England's Trees, Woods and Forests puts a strong emphasis on planting the right tree in the right place and we will be taking an integrated approach to see where additional woodland can complement other activities.

Forests: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to take steps to increase the area of woodland in the West Midlands.

Huw Irranca-Davies: As part of the Low Carbon Transition Plan announced in July, the Forestry Commission and DEFRA are working to develop the framework that would be needed to enable 10,000 hectares of new woodland to be created each year for the next 15 years. As part of this, the Forestry Commission will be working with partners in each region to identify the scope for increasing the area of woodland.

Horticulture

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures he is considering to increase the amount of home-grown horticultural produce; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: On 21 October I chaired the first meeting of the fruit and vegetable task force. It will look at how we can boost domestic production and consumption of fruit and vegetables in England. This is in addition to the support already provided which includes funding up to £7 million of research and development last year on horticultural crops.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made an assessment of the outcomes of the International Union for Conservation of Nature meeting held on 26 November 2009.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Secretary of State co-hosted this roundtable event along with Ashok Khosla, the President of the International Union of Conservation and Nature, in support of the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration. In the co-chairs' summary, The London Challenge, they recognise the progress made by the partnership since its establishment in 2003, the considerable potential for forest restoration globally and the important role of forest restoration in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Work on restoration complements the work we are doing to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. The summary goes on to reflect issues raised by participants and actions to take forest restoration forward in the coming months. The final summary will be posted on the partnership's website following its distribution to participants.

Marine Management Organisation

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on consultancy fees during the selection process of the headquarters of the Marine Management Organisation.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has paid £6,900 in respect of property consultancy, including the site search and financial appraisal of the property options, for the Marine Management Organisation headquarters building in Newcastle.

Marine Management Organisation

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements have been made for the temporary accommodation of Marine and Fisheries Agency staff in Newcastle before moving to Lancaster House; and what expenditure he expects his Department to incur on such temporary accommodation.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Since the beginning of October 2009, interim accommodation for Marine and Fisheries Agency staff based in Newcastle has been the Government Office North East. Additional accommodation from 14 December will be in city centre commercial offices. It is estimated that the cost of this interim accommodation will amount to approximately £150,000.

Marine Management Organisation

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure has been incurred on recruitment agencies engaged to recruit staff for the Marine and Fisheries Agency in the last 12 months.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In the 12 months up to November 2009, approximately £153,000 of expenditure had been incurred on recruitment agencies as part of a continuing exercise to recruit Marine and Fisheries Agency staff.

Salmon: River Dee

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has made a recent estimate of the size of the population of salmon in the River Dee.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency carries out an annual assessment of the number of adult salmon entering the River Dee using data from a fish trap at Chester Weir. The latest available assessment indicates a population of 5,437 adult salmon entering the River Dee in 2008.

TRANSPORT

Bridges: Workington

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans there are to build a bailey bridge capable of taking wheeled vehicles across the River Derwent in Workington, Cumbria.

Sadiq Khan: Following the recent floods in Cumbria an immediate priority in Workington is to improve transport links for communities on either side of the River Derwent, which have been significantly curtailed.
	The Government are working closely with Cumbria county council on re-establishing those transport links. An additional rail station has been built at North Workington to allow a shuttle rail service to operate. The Army have also built a temporary footbridge, which opened on 7 December. These facilities are being supported with Government funding.
	Cumbria county council are considering what measures would be appropriate to restore road vehicle links across the River Derwent at Workington. The Department for Transport is funding project management support to assist the authority with their infrastructure recovery planning. When Cumbria county council decides on how to restore road vehicle links, they will be able to include the costs in their claim to the Department for emergency capital highway maintenance funding.

Bus Services: Finance

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what bids for funding for new and enhanced bus services for local authorities and their partners he has received under the Kickstart Bus Funding Competition announced in January 2009; and when he plans to announce the successful schemes to be funded.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport received 105 bids for funding, totalling £63 million, from local authorities across England. An announcement will be made in due course.

Bus Services: Lincolnshire

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has paid in grants to North East Lincolnshire local authority to provide free bus travel for pensioners in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: In the last 12 months, The Department for Transport has made payments totalling £614,039 in respect of concessionary travel special grant to North East Lincolnshire. The special grant provides funding solely to cover the extra costs that followed from the improvement to the statutory concession to all-England travel in April 2008. The Department for Communities and Local Government continues to provide the bulk of concessionary travel funding to local authorities through Formula Grant.

Crossrail Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many lorry movements carrying waste from tunnelling as part of the Crossrail project he estimates will take place in each month in 2012.

Sadiq Khan: It is estimated that there will be around 60 lorry movements carrying waste from tunnelling as part of the Crossrail project per day during 2012. The need to reduce the number of such movements during the periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is recognised and is being actively considered by Crossrail Ltd. in consultation with the Olympic Delivery Authority, although the precise details will not be known until nearer the time.
	85 per cent. of the excavated material from the tunnel drives will be removed by rail and boat, removing an estimated 500,000 lorry movements from the streets of London during the life of the project.

Crossrail Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport by what means  (a) contaminated tunnel waste,  (b) non-contaminated tunnel waste and  (c) waste of indeterminate quality from the Crossrail project will be disposed of.

Sadiq Khan: Virtually all of the 7.3 million m(3 )of excavated material is expected to be clean and non-contaminated and can be reused elsewhere. A significant proportion of this material will be transported to Wallasea Island in Essex to enhance a nature reserve for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). This will be one of the largest new wetland nature reserves in Europe for some 50 years. Other sites being considered for this material include South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) regeneration sites in Kent.
	If any contaminated material or waste of indeterminate quality is found it will be transported to a specialist treatment facility.

Crossrail Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what requirements he has identified for the need to stockpile waste during the construction phase of the Crossrail project.

Sadiq Khan: It is anticipated that all categories of excavated material will be transported straight to its intended destination without the need for stockpiling. However, each construction site will have limited stockpiling capacity in case of unforeseen incidents on the rail, water or road networks.

Crossrail Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the  (a) carbon footprint and  (b) environmental sustainability of (i) the construction of Crossrail and (ii) the completed scheme; and what benchmarking exercises his Department has carried out in this respect.

Sadiq Khan: The carbon footprint and environmental impacts of Crossrail during both construction and operation were assessed and presented in the Crossrail Environmental Statement, which was published in February 2005.
	As a sustainable transport project Crossrail forms part of the Mayor of London's 'London Plan' which was itself subject to a sustainability assessment.
	In addition Crossrail has worked with the Building Research Establishment to develop a BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for its sub-surface stations and is using that and the Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (CEEQUAL) to benchmark the environmental performance of its designs.

Crossrail Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what preparations have been made to reduce the effect of lorry movements associated with Crossrail construction during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sadiq Khan: Crossrail Ltd. and the Olympic Delivery Authority are working together to ensure that the Games proceed unhindered, and to ensure that the impact of Crossrail works is minimised during the Olympic/Paralympic Games periods.
	The need to reduce the number of lorry movements during the periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is recognised and is being actively considered. The precise details will not be known until nearer the time.

Departmental Plants

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much has been spent by his Department on  (a) cut flowers and  (b) pot plants in each of the last three years.

Chris Mole: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, the Department for Transport spent £87,401 on pot plants and £3,419 on cut flowers in 2008-09. This excludes spend incurred at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency as the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Spend on pot plants includes provision, maintenance and replacement of plants.
	All expenditure was incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments the British Transport Police has made to  (a) Grayling Political Strategy and  (b) Politics International in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made.

Chris Mole: This is a matter for the British Transport Police who can be contacted at 25 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LN, e-mail:
	parliament@btp.pnn.police.uk

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments Cycling England has made to Blue Rubicon in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Sadiq Khan: Blue Rubicon has been contracted through the Central Office of Information (COI) to provide public relations services to Cycling England. The agency delivers a programme of activity targeting consumers and engaging stakeholders with the aim of getting more people cycling, more safely, more often. A key focus of Blue Rubicon's work is the promotion of Bikeability cycle training for children (supporting the Government's goal of training an additional 500,000 children by 2012).
	In the 12 months from November 2008 to October 2009, £493,177 was paid to Blue Rubicon in connection with the provision of such services. A further £432,985 was spent on external expenses (such as the supply of Bikeability badges) associated with the Cycling England campaign and procured through Blue Rubicon. In total, £926,162 was spent over the 12 months. During this period, the contract was retendered and refocused. As a result, the total value of work for the seven months from April to October 2009 was just over £321,000.
	Blue Rubicon's contract is with the COI who have released a copy of the terms and conditions of the contract and their brief for the work. These have been placed in the Libraries.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments the Civil Aviation Authority has made to  (a) Waterfront Public Affairs and  (b) AS Biss/Mandate Communications in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made.

Paul Clark: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informs us that they have paid Waterfront Public Affairs a net amount of £96,019.80 in the last 12 months. This was for providing a public affairs and public relations consultancy service to the CAA. No payments have been made to AS Biss/Mandate Communications in the last 12 months. A copy of the Waterfront Public Affairs contract will be made available in the Libraries of the House.

Departmental Rail Travel

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer of 12 May 2009,  Official Report, column 645W, on departmental rail travel, whether  (a) his Department's travel policy and  (b) the travel policy of his Department's agencies allows staff to make claims from the public purse for travel in first class rail carriages in circumstances on which there are no seats in standard class available.

Chris Mole: The travel policies of the central Department and of its agencies allow claims for first class travel in circumstances on which standard class seats are unavailable.

East Coast Railway Line: Rolling Stock

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the cost of refurbishing existing rolling stock on the East Coast Main Line to enable it to be used  (a) up to and  (b) beyond 2019.

Chris Mole: In order to provide a comparison with the costs of the new Super Express Trains, which will operate on the East Coast Main Line from 2014, the Department for Transport has prepared an estimate of the costs of the alternative: of continuing to operate the existing intercity rolling stock beyond that time. This includes the period leading up to as well as the period beyond 2019. Release of this comparator information at this stage would diminish the Department's commercial position in negotiations with the preferred bidder, Agility Trains. We therefore remain convinced of the value for money of replacing the old rolling stock with the new Super Express Train, especially in the context of an extensive electrification programme.

Road Salting and Gritting

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on  (a) contingency plans in the event of snow and  (b) the stockpiling of road grit.

Sadiq Khan: It is for each local authority to determine how best to set and deliver a winter service strategy for the highway network for which they are responsible. The Department for Transport has not issued formal guidance to local authorities on this, but endorses the UK Roads Liaison Group's (UKRLG) code of practice on highways maintenance management, Well-maintained Highways, which includes guidance on winter service. The code is available free from:
	www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org
	Following the severe weather in February this year, the then Secretary of State commissioned the UK Roads Liaison Group to identify the lessons that should be learnt regarding highway authorities' preparedness for extreme weather events. I will respond to the UKRLG's report shortly.

Roads: Accidents

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of road traffic accidents caused by partial parking on kerbs where the kerb is higher than four inches in the last 12 months.

Paul Clark: The information requested is not collected.

Transport: Expenditure

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department spent per capita on transport  (a) revenue and  (b) capital schemes in (i) England, (ii) each Government region and (iii) the City of York Council area in each year since 1996-97.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport publishes estimates of its total expenditure on services per head by region and country in its annual report. These figures rest on a number of assumptions, for example about how total expenditure on strategic highways and rail should be attributed to different regions, and figures are not available below regional level. The report does not include the split between revenue and capital schemes.
	However, a further analysis showing the breakdown between revenue and capital schemes per capita for the Department since its formation in May 2002 is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Department for Transport revenue and capital expenditure per capita 
			  Region  CAP or CUR  2002-03( 1)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 North East CAP - 5 5 6 9 9 
			  CUR 65 79 70 77 111 109 
			 
			 North West CAP - 8 9 9 14 16 
			  CUR 81 102 114 111 148 153 
			 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber CAP - 5 5 6 10 9 
			  CUR 67 82 73 76 119 114 
			 
			 East Midlands CAP - 6 7 8 10 9 
			  CUR 90 100 94 104 127 114 
			 
			 West Midlands CAP - 7 9 9 12 12 
			  CUR 85 105 125 121 143 142 
			 
			 East CAP - 5 5 6 8 8 
			  CUR 86 92 73 75 104 99 
			 
			 London CAP - 30 12 13 19 20 
			  CUR 135 285 116 107 141 142 
			 
			 South East CAP - 12 13 13 17 16 
			  CUR 90 155 153 146 182 175 
			 
			 South West CAP - 5 7 9 11 10 
			  CUR 71 89 100 113 148 134 
			 
			 England CAP - 6 6 7 10 10 
			  CUR 89 133 107 107 141 136 
			 (1 )The figures proved for 2002-03 are aggregate. 
		
	
	These figures do not include grant support provided by the Department to local authorities. Revenue support to authorities for transport is generally provided through the Revenue Support Grant. Amounts provided to York city council in these years are as follows:
	
		
			  £ millions 
			   LTP funding  Pre-LTP funding  Major projects  Total capital funding 
			 2009-10 4.856 - - 4.856 
			 2008-09 5.116 - - 5.116 
			 2007-08 5.560 - - 5.560 
			 2006-07 5.864 - - 5.864 
			 2005-06 6.225 - - 6.225 
			 2004-05 6.302 - - 6.302 
			 2003-04 5.981 - - 5.981 
			 2002-03 5.555 - - 5.555 
			 2001-02 5.995 - - 5.995 
			 2000-01 2.262 - - 2.262 
			 1999-2000 - 1.983 - 1.983 
			 1998-99 - 1.127 - 1.127 
			 1997-98 - 2.212 0.977 3.189 
			 1996-97 No data No data 2.262 2.262

Transport: Per Capita Costs

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much transport spending per person by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies there was on (i) light rail, (ii) heavy rail, (iii) bus and (iv) roads in (A) Yorkshire and Humber and (B) London in each year since 2005.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport publishes estimates of its total expenditure on services per head by region and country in its annual report. These figures rest on a number of assumptions, for example about how total expenditure on strategic highways and rail should be attributed to different regions.
	These figures exclude grant to local authorities, including Greater London Authority Transport Grant, as this information is collated separately by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department for Work and Pensions and devolved Administrations.
	The report does not provide a specific breakdown per capital for light rail, heavy rail, bus and roads.
	To provide a detailed estimate of the figures on the basis sought would incur disproportionate cost.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he will respond to question 301331, tabled by the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire on 19 November 2009, on departmental working practices.

Chris Mole: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 9 December 2009.

PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Security

Oliver Heald: To ask the Prime Minister how many security passes his Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months.

Gordon Brown: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on security matters.

Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the  (a) advantages and  (b) disadvantages of the merger of the Departments for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the machinery of government press notice issued by my Office. Copies are available in the Library of the House and are also available on the No. 10 website at:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19525

Iraq Committee of Inquiry: Disclosure of Information

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what protocols have been agreed between the Government and the Iraq Inquiry on the disclosure and publication of documents provided to the Committee.

Tessa Jowell: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Cabinet Office press release of 29 October publishing the information sharing protocol the Government have agreed with the Iraq Inquiry. This is the only protocol agreed between the Government and the Inquiry.

Members: Surveillance

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, column 366W, on Members: surveillance, if he will provide the information requested in respect of unreported interceptions since 1975.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave on 30 November 2009.

Trinidad and Tobago: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister what  (a) discussions he had and  (b) conclusions were reached at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, column 113WS.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh: Climate Change

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department is providing to Bangladesh to help combat the effect of climate change; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) works closely with the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) on climate change issues. DFID:
	Assisted the GoB in developing a national Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan and provided £60 million to help implement them.
	Provided more than £6 million since 2004 to support disaster preparedness in the regions of Bangladesh most vulnerable to severe climate shocks. We are providing a further £12 million to support this work over the next five year, covering a wider area. This programme is implemented by UNDP and co-financed by the European Union. It is also part of Bangladesh's Climate Change Strategy.
	Is providing £690,000 to research institutions and universities in Bangladesh to increase national capacity to assess the impacts of climate change and improve Bangladesh's climate adaptation strategy and activities.
	Is building the country's resilience to climate change through improved governance, health, education and job opportunities.

Bangladesh: International Assistance

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department is providing to Bangladesh for the construction of cyclone defences following Cyclone Sidr in 2007.

Gareth Thomas: The UK provided around £20 million in response to three natural disasters in 2007, including Cyclone Sidr. Approximately £2 million has been used to repair damaged coastal defences and build shelter homes in areas affected by Cyclone Sidr.
	The World Bank has launched a special project called the Emergency Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project (ECRP). This is a £138 million (US $226 million) project of which £19 million (US$ 30 million) has been specifically allocated to repair the embankments damaged by Cyclone Sidr. The UK has contributed £19.6 million to this project through our support to the World Bank International Development Association 15 fund.

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many telephone lines with the prefix  (a) 0870,  (b) 0845 and  (c) 0800 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls were received to each number in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at the BT local rate are available in each case.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has one telephone number with the prefix 0845. This is used by the Department's Public Enquiry Point in our office in Scotland. DFID pay a fixed annual fee for this telephone line which includes rental and all outgoing call charges. This line is managed via the Governments Management Telecoms Service and DFID does not receive any payment for calls made to this number. Calls to this number are charged at the local rate.
	DFID does not keep a record of calls made to the 0845 number, this information would need to be specifically requested from our supplier.
	DFID do not have any telephone lines with the prefix 0800 or 0870.

HEALTH

Autism: Health Services

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research into cerebral inhibition soothing behaviours and the compromised capacity of persons who are autistic undertaken by autism spectrum experts his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Neither the Department nor the Medical Research Council (MRC) is currently supporting or evaluating research relating to cerebral inhibition soothing behaviours and the compromised capacity of persons who are autistic. Both fund a portfolio of other research relating to autism on which the MRC, for example, spent over £2.4 million in 2008-09.

Christmas

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009.

Phil Hope: The Department has budgeted for £3,250 for Christmas trees in 2009.

Departmental Finance

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 17 of the Explanatory Notes for the Personal Care at Home Bill, which budgets within his Department will fund the Department's £420 million contribution in  (a) 2010-11,  (b) 2011-12 and  (c) 2012-13; and by how much in each case.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 296W, to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds).

Departmental Public Expenditure

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has allocated to the Aiming Higher for Disabled Children programme in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Phil Hope: The 2009 Child Health Strategy, 'Healthy lives, brighter futures', confirmed that £340 million was included in primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations by the Department of Health for disabled children for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11, to support the implementation of the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and the children's palliative care strategy, 'Better Care: Better Lives'. This figure includes £30 million to deliver the priorities for children's palliative care. Neither the programme nor the strategy broke down the funding by year. It is for PCTs to determine how best to use this funding based on local needs.
	Copies of both documents have already been placed in the Library.

Mental Capacity Act 2005

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has been invoked in order to modify the situation pertaining to someone with disability in order to maximise their individual capacity; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: This information is not collected.

Mental Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the level of implementation of the National Service Framework for mental health; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: No recent assessment has been made of the level of implementation of the National Service Framework (NSF). However, we know that the NSF has led to an impressive range of policy initiatives in a previously neglected area of service provision. We have seen many benefits for people who use mental health services in the form of more money, with real terms investment in adult mental health services increasing by 44 per cent. (or £1.7 billion), since 2001-02. We also know that more patients have been helped, with crisis resolution teams providing over 106,000 home treatments to patients in the year 2007-08.
	Further, because of the NSF the national health service now has 64 per cent. more consultant psychiatrists, 71 per cent. more clinical psychologists and 21 per cent. more mental health nurses than it had in 1997, and over 740 new community mental health teams offering home treatment, early intervention, or intensive support for people who might otherwise have been admitted to hospital.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to the provision of cognitive behavioural therapy in each primary care trust in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme's principal aim is to support primary care trusts (PCTs) in implementing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.
	To date, IAPT has focused solely on the provision of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). IAPT has allocated funds centrally to the national health service in each of the last two years, rather than directly and individually to each PCT.
	This centrally allocated money has seen £33 million allocated in 2008-09, with 35 IAPT services established. A further £70 million (to a total of £103 million) has been centrally allocated in 2009-10, with 115 IAPT services established. In 2010-11, a further £70 million (to a total of £173 million) will be allocated.
	The expansion of sites are part of a phased roll-out and services will be beginning to be implemented in every PCT by 2011 and the NHS is committed to delivering universal coverage in the period after 2011. Prior to the start of the IAPT programme in 2008, CBT provision was not funded through centrally allocated money. Information about spending on CBT prior to 2008-09 is not collected by the Department but is held by PCTs.

Neuroblastoma

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that monoclonal antibody therapy is available to NHS patients diagnosed with neuroblastoma.

Ann Keen: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has not issued any guidance on monoclonal antibody therapy for the treatment of neuroblastoma.
	In the absence of NICE guidance, it is a matter for local national health service organisations to decide whether to fund a particular drug or treatment. The NHS Constitution gives patients the right to expect local funding decisions on the availability of drugs and treatments to be made rationally following consideration of the available evidence.

Neuroblastoma

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number of children who have neuroblastoma.

Ann Keen: Information on the number of patients with neuroblastoma (prevalence) is not held centrally, nor has any estimate been made.
	However, the following table shows the number of children and young people aged 19 and under diagnosed with an unspecified adrenal gland cancer, which could include neuroblastoma, during 2007. This is the latest year for which incidence data are available.
	
		
			  Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of adrenal gland, unspecified cancer( 1) , in persons aged 19 years and under by age group in England( 2)  during 2007( 3) 
			  Age of person diagnosed (years)  Number of cancers diagnosed 
			 Less than 1 7 
			 1-4 19 
			 5-9 5 
			 10-14 0 
			 15-19 (4)- 
			 (1) Adrenal gland, unspecified cancer (including neuroblastoma) is coded as C74.9 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). (2) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (3) Newly diagnosed cases registered in 2007. (4 )For young people aged 15-19, the reported incidence levels indicate less than three individuals. Due to this small cell count, the data have been suppressed to avoid the risk of disclosure.  Source: Office for National Statistics

Neuroblastoma

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government have allocated to research to find a cure for neuroblastoma.

Gillian Merron: The Department's National Institute for Health Research is undertaking translational research specifically concerned with neuroblastoma at two of its Biomedical Research Centres; and via its national cancer research network is currently supporting some nine studies into the condition. The Department has additionally invested over £1 million in experimental cancer medicine centres specifically to support early-phase clinical trials for children with cancer, including trials for children with neuroblastoma. It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of these research activities.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the economic modelling used for the Shaping the Future of Care Together consultation.

Phil Hope: The Department is working towards publishing a White Paper on care and support in early 2010. They have been working with the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) to provide the modelling and analysis to underpin our policy development. We were provided with an interim report from PSSRU in November but that report was based on a view of the system when the Green Paper was published. Our core modelling assumptions have changed quite significantly since then as a result of our stakeholder engagement, responses to our consultation and developments such as the Prime Minister's announcement on free personal care. The report is therefore only part of the story and we have come to the conclusion that to publish it now could be unhelpful to the wider debate on the future of care and support.
	PSSRU continue to model the costs and benefits of a new National Care Service based on revised assumptions.
	The whole methodology of the interim report was published in July on the PSSRU's website at:
	www.pssru.ac.uk/pdf/dp2644.pdf
	The top level costs and benefits are in the impact assessment published with the Green Paper and available on the Big Care Debate website at:
	http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/greenpaper/the-green-paper-and-supporting-documents/

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent consideration he has given to raising the charges for lower levels of need in order to subsidise free personal care at the critical level.

Phil Hope: Setting charges for social care is a matter for local authorities. Free personal care will be funded by an additional £420 million from central Government and £250 million from local government efficiency savings.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 5.14 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill; what assessment he has made of the likely effect on small businesses in the care sector if individuals and local authorities do not use money that would have been spent on personal care for other purchases.

Phil Hope: The impact assessment published alongside the current consultation document, Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance, sets out the current considerations on the impact on small firms. Both documents have already been placed in the Library.
	The consultation will close on 23 February 2010 and a response to the document will be published subsequently. We will also be undertaking direct stakeholder engagement alongside the consultation process and this will be considered as part of this.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the purposes set out for the Personal Care at Home Bill vary between page two of the impact assessment, paragraph 7.2 of the impact assessment and the human rights section of the relevant explanatory note.

Phil Hope: The different sections of text referred to are intended to detail differing aspects of the Personal Care at Home Bill. Therefore, differing explanations are required to appropriately define each section of the text. There are no inconsistencies between them.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what recent assessment he has made of the risk of catastrophic costs being incurred.

Phil Hope: Paragraph 5.6 of the impact assessment recognises that the costs of meeting personal care needs will be greater for individuals in higher need and that, if these costs are incurred over an extended period of time, they may sum to a significant and in some cases catastrophic, amount.
	It is this risk, which cannot be well insured against in the current market, that the Personal Care at Home Bill is seeking to reduce for individuals in highest need.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he had with Ministerial colleagues in respect of the formulation of his policy on the provision of free personal care at home.

Phil Hope: In formulating policy proposals as part of the Personal Care at Home Bill, there were appropriate ministerial level discussions and clearances.

Social Services

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect of future demographic changes on the provision of free personal care; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what models his Department has commissioned to assess the future provision of free personal care for those people with the highest needs; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 7 December 2009,  Official Report, column 166W.

Social Services

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the geographical distribution of the provision of free personal care; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 294W.

Social Services

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department defines eligibility in relation to the provision of free personal care; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Eligibility in relation to the provision of free personal care is set out in the consultation document, Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance and comments are invited. The consultation will close on 23 February 2010 and will inform the drafting of regulations which will define the scheme.
	The consultation document has already been placed in the Library.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Christmas

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many Christmas trees were purchased by his Department in each year since its establishment; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of.

Joan Ruddock: The Department has purchased no Christmas trees.

Climate Change

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department attended the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit; what methods of transport each used to travel (a) to and (b) from the Summit; and whether he has applied carbon offsets to carbon footprint of the collective travel of the UK delegation to the Summit.

Joan Ruddock: Two Ministers and 38 officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change are in Copenhagen, or will be shortly arriving in Copenhagen, to attend the UNFCCC summit on Climate Change. Seven delegates travelled by rail, 28 by plane, and five have yet to determine their method of travel. All of DECC's travel emissions are offset.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since its inception; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens.

Joan Ruddock: The Department has purchased no plasma screen televisions.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of his Department's 1st Anniversary Stakeholder Reception held on 12 October 2009.

Joan Ruddock: The cost of the 12 October 2009 DECC 1st anniversary party was £21,937.71 +VAT.

Departmental Publications

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken to  (a) inform interested parties of and  (b) distribute his Department's publication The arrangements for the management and disposal of waste from new nuclear power stations: a summary of evidence; and how many copies of the document have been printed.

David Kidney: The Planning Act 2008 requires the Government to consult the public and stakeholders on the National Policy Statements (NPSs) before they can be designated. The waste assessment summary evidence paper is part of a suite of documents supporting the draft Nuclear NPS, which is currently subject to a wide ranging national consultation lasting 15 weeks. As part of this programme the Government have corresponded with statutory consultees, have set up a dedicated NPS website and are conducting national and local engagement events targeting key stakeholders and members of the public. These have been widely advertised through print, broadcast and online media, as well as by generating PR coverage and targeted communications including leaflets and an email campaign.
	The waste assessment summary evidence paper has not been printed in large quantities The document is available on the NPS consultation website for viewing or download, and DECC has so far printed over 100 copies from this source and made them available at local exhibition events.

Departmental Taxis

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what contracts his Department has with private hire taxi companies; and what expenditure his Department has incurred against each such contract in each year since his Department was established.

Joan Ruddock: The Department has no contracts with private hire taxi companies.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what hospitality officials in his Department and its predecessors with responsibility for the two miners' compensation schemes have received from Capita Group plc since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: Capita became the Department's claims handling contractor in 2004. Information held by the Department on hospitality received since 2004 related to officials in the Coal Liability Unit (CLU) is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Hospitality received by officials responsible for the Coal Health Schemes 
			  Date received  Section  Staff by grade  Hospitality received  Total value (£) 
			 October 2005 CLU SCS plus staff below SCS (x 3) Dinner 120.00 
			 23 June 2006 CLU SCS Lunch 10.00 
			 26 July 2006 CLU SCS plus staff below SCS (x 1) Dinner 45.00 
			 August 2006 CLU SCS Dinner 25.00 
			 29 March 2007 CLU SCS Lunch 10.00 
			 18 September 2007 CLU SCS plus staff below SCS (x 1) Lunch and dinner 50.00 
			 13 December 2007 CLU Staff below SCS (x 3) Lunch 90.00 
			 30 July 2008 CLU Staff below SCS (x 3) Lunch 90.00 
			 22 September 2008 CLU Staff below SCS Meal 20.00 
			 22 July 2009 CLU Staff below SCS Dinner 25.00

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether Capita Group plc receives a financial benefit from reducing  (a) the total money paid out and  (b) the amount of money paid to individual claimants under each of the two miners' compensation schemes.

David Kidney: I can confirm that there is no financial benefit to Capita in respect to  (a) or  (b) under the Department's contractual arrangements for claims handling for the vibration white finger and respiratory disease schemes.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evaluation his Department has made of the effectiveness for claimants of the Coal Health Compensation Scheme.

David Kidney: The Coal Health Compensation Schemes have been closely scrutinised by a range of reviews including the Boys Smith Review conducted in 2005 for the then Minister for Energy, my right hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North (Malcolm Wicks); the Trade and Industry Select Committee Review in 2005; and the National Audit Office report in 2007 on the schemes and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee hearing in 2007 and Committee's Report in 2008.
	I am proud that we are now moving towards the conclusion of these schemes under my ministerial 'watch'. We believe these are the biggest personal injury schemes in British legal history. They are complex schemes that were set up in agreement between the Department and the miners' solicitors' representatives following the original judgments in the 1990's and then endorsed by the High Court. This ensured that miners and their families received the level of compensation to which they might reasonably have been entitled had they pursed their claim in common law.
	I believe that objective has been achieved as we now draw near to the completion of the vibration white finger (VWF) and respiratory disease schemes. In all almost 760,000 miners' claims have been processed and compensation now totalling £4.1 billion has been paid out.
	The VWF litigation was wound up in the High Court on 1 May 2009 following the completion of processing nearly all the 170,000 claims. There are now fewer than 10 VWF general damages and 20 special damages scheme claims left to settle. There are also a small number of claims involving individual mediations or court actions to be concluded. For the respiratory scheme where we had nearly 590,000 claims there are now less than 2,000 active claims left to be settled and we are on track to achieving settlement of the majority of these by mid 2010.
	However, it has not all been plain sailing. Clearly we have all learnt lessons from the operation of these schemes.
	One of the key issues remains the conduct of solicitors in making deductions from compensation. I continue to hold regular meetings with the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) and I know that this work remains an important focus for both organisations. I welcome recent developments both in terms of action taken against individual firms of solicitors and actions being taken by solicitors to offer repayment of deductions. I would urge firms that have not taken such actions to co-operate with the LCS.
	I also recognise that despite the scale of these schemes it has taken too long for some claimants to receive the compensation they were entitled too. I apologise to those people who have had to wait so long. The key lesson here is about making sure information required to process claims is obtained at an early stage and the use of tight and binding timescales for all parties to manage the claims to be settlement. The successful fast track risk offer scheme has also demonstrated how claims can be settled more rapidly for some claimants.
	In overall terms, I believe settling the claims has been a major achievement for this Government delivering over £4.1 billion in compensation to miners and their families. I would also like to pay tribute to those that have contributed to delivery of the schemes on behalf of the Department.

Nuclear Power

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the merits of including in his Department's report, Appraisal of sustainability of the draft national nuclear policy statement: main report, published on 9 November 2009, an appraisal relating to the uranium mined for the nuclear fuel used in new reactors.

David Kidney: The Appraisal of Sustainability is intended to assess the environmental and sustainability impacts of the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement and therefore focuses on those impacts which arise from the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement itself. The draft Nuclear National Policy Statement provides guidance to the Infrastructure Planning Commission on the construction and operation of new nuclear power stations. It does not cover mining or milling of uranium.
	The Government have previously considered the environmental impacts of uranium mining and milling as part of the 2007 consultation on nuclear power. The Government published their response in the Nuclear White Paper in January 2008. In the Nuclear White Paper, the Government set out that conventional uranium mining do not differ significantly from mining of other metalliferous ores or coal for other types of power stations. Furthermore, an increasing proportion of the world's uranium now comes from in-situ leaching. This is a process that does not require the ore to be mined and generates much less waste, though it can have a negative impact on the water table and is not suitable for all types of uranium deposits. There are established environmental constraints, such as the regulations governing uranium mining in Australia which cover, among other things, environmental protection and the requirement to meet environmental approvals before mining proceeds. Additionally, most uranium mining companies in Australia and Canada, which supply much of the world's uranium, have achieved certification from the International Organisation for Standardisation. This body sets the standard for, and undertakes audits of, environmental management systems. These environmental constraints minimise the environmental impacts of mining operations.
	The consultation on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's proposed decisions on the regulatory justification of new nuclear power station designs, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House and are available at:
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/reg_just_cons/reg_just_cons.aspx
	also covers this issue. In the consultation, my right hon. Friend explains that he considers that he is not bound to take practices outside the UK into account in making a regulatory justification decision but he has none the less considered the issue in view of fact that various respondents to the previous consultation on the regulatory justification process had raised concerns about the issue.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he will be consulting on the Renewable Heat Incentive.

David Kidney: We aim to publish the consultation on the renewable heat incentive (RHI) in January 2010. We had previously intended to publish the consultation by the end of 2009, however, we now plan to publish in January.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will publish a Government response to future recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs;
	(2)  what factors he takes into consideration when assessing recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs;
	(3)  on what basis he rejected the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that cannabis should remain a class C drug.

Alan Campbell: As my right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary, Member for Redditch (Jacqui Smith), advised in her statement to the House on 7 May 2008,  Official Report, column 705, the reclassification of cannabis as a Class B drug against the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was based on a number of factors, including but not limited to scientific evidence. Reclassification on 26 January 2009 is a preventative measure to protect the public, particularly the future health of young people.
	The Government's Reply to the Fifth Report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Session 2005-06 HC 1031 Drug classification: making a hash of it? can be found at:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm69/6941/6941.pdf
	sets out the factors, including the ACMD's recommendations, that are considered in relation to drug classification decisions.
	The Government have published and will continue to publish responses to the recommendations in the reports of Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the cost to his Department of crime caused by alcohol misuse in each region in the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office has estimated the cost of alcohol-related crime and disorder in England and Wales in 2007-08 as between £8-£13 billion per year. We are unable to break down this estimate by region.

Anabolic Steroids

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were  (a) cautioned,  (b) arrested,  (c) charged and  (d) convicted of offences related to the (i) possession and (ii) supply of anabolic steroids in each year since 2005.

Alan Campbell: Information from the court proceedings database held by the Ministry of Justice, showing the number of defendants cautioned, proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the possession and supply of anabolic steroids in England and Wales, 2005-07 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	The Ministry of Justice do not collect charging data; proceeded against information has been provided in lieu.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery. It is not possible to separate data on arrests related to the possession and supply of anabolic steroids from within these offence groups.
	
		
			  Number of defendants cautioned, proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the possession and supply of anabolic steroids( 1) , England and Wales, 2005-07( 2, 3, 4, 5) 
			   Cautioned  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 2005 28 16 15 
			 2006 15 14 12 
			 2007 24 22 14 
			 (1) Offence descriptions : i. Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) a controlled drug: Anabolic Steroids Statute: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 4(3) ii. Having possession of a controlled drug: Anabolic Steroids Statute: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 5(2) iii. Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Anabolic Steroids Statute: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 5(3). (2) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence. (3) From 1 June 2000, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (4) The court statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (5) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice.

Children: Abuse

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of his Department's budget was allocated to tackling child abuse and the viewing of images of child abuse online in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The Government set up the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) in 2006 to help protect children online. They have tackled both those who abuse children and those who are trading in images of such abuse. Since 2006 the Government have provided funding for the Centre as follows.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2006-07 5.360 
			 2007-08 5.657 
			 2008-09 6.270 
			 2009-10 6.353 
		
	
	In addition, chief constables have their normal policing budget which they are able to use on the priorities for their forces. Any decision on funding or staffing for child protection activity is a matter for the chief constables for their area.

Children: Abuse

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further work he plans to undertake on the relationship between viewing images of child abuse online and child abuse.

Alan Campbell: The Government's efforts on the relationship between viewing images of child abuse online and child abuse focus on the training courses provided by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre for child protection professionals. These courses are designed to do two things. Firstly, to help delegates better understand the nature of sexual offending and secondly to impart the skills and knowledge that can better equip professionals to deal with the difficult and distressing nature of this crime. Many of CEOP's training courses are based on material gathered during investigations, and case studies of sex offenders interviewed by CEOP's dedicated Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU). The relationship between the use of images and contact offending is a key thread that runs through all of their project areas and something that is considered in all of the interviews that the BAU conduct with offenders.

Crime and Disorder Act 1988

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of an offence under section 9(7) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: Information is provided by the Ministry of Justice on how many people have been convicted of an offence under section 9(7) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in each of the last five years.
	Information showing the number of persons proven at court to have breached a parenting order from 2003 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proven at court to have breached a parenting order, under Section 9(7) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, from 2003 to 2007( 1) 
			   Number of defendants 
			 2003 11 
			 2004 20 
			 2005 22 
			 2006 25 
			 2007 31 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Crimes of Violence: Females

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to his Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy, from what budget the £5 million to be allocated to  (a) independent domestic violence advocacy services,  (b) sexual assault referral centres,  (c) multi-agency risk assessment conferences and  (d) local non-statutory support services for rape victims in 2010-11 will be drawn; whether the level of funding to other services funded from that budget will be changed as a consequence; and what plans his Department has for the level of such funding after 2010-11.

Alan Campbell: The Government's strategy: Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls committed the Government to a continuing investment of over £5 million in 2010-11 in independent domestic violence advisers (IDVAs) and the further roll-out of multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs). This will be sourced from both Home Office and Ministry of Justice budgets. The Home Office budget has funded IDVAs and MARACs since 2008-09 and these have always been key initiatives.
	Funding for Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) comes from the Department of Health and Home Office. Funding for local non-statutory support services for rape victims (Rape Crisis and Survivors Trust) from the Ministry of Justice Victim's Fund and from the Government Equalities Office.
	Levels of funding to other services for violence against women and girls have not been affected as a result of these allocations which continue and expand on resources committed to the same priorities in 2009-10.
	The strategy commits the Government to prioritising investment in these specialist services after 2010-11.

Crimes of Violence: Females

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to his Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy, how much his Department plans to spend on  (a) Connexions and other services working with schools to ensure they assist victims,  (b) establishing a stalking and harassment helpline,  (c) developing a sexual violence helpline and  (d) meeting the Government's compact with the voluntary sector by moving to three-year funding arrangements in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) each of the subsequent three years; and from what budgets such funding will be drawn.

Alan Campbell: The cross-Government strategy Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls was launched on 25 November 2009.
	 (a) The role of Connexions and other services working with schools in tackling Violence Against Women and Girls will be informed by the Early Interventions Consultation which the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) will be launching in December 2009.
	 (b) The Stalking and Harassment helpline will be run in partnership by the three main charities who work in this area: the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Network for Surviving Stalking and Protection Against Stalking. The Home Office has awarded the partnership £47,470 for the 2009-10 financial year. This will cover initial set up of the helpline, staff and recruitment costs and the development of a multi-media website with personal safety advice and information. Funding for 2010-11 has been guaranteed by additional partnership funding.
	 (c) Plans for a new sexual violence helpline, including levels of investment, will be agreed in 2010 by a cross-departmental delivery board which will have oversight on delivery of all actions in the strategy.
	 (d) Officials across Government are working together to consider what more we can do to address the sustainability of the violence against women third sector. This will include looking at how the commissioning of voluntary services can be made Compact compliant.

Crimes of Violence: Knives

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of  (a) wounding or grievous bodily harm,  (b) assault with injury and  (c) robbery there were involving a knife in each month since May 1997.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office has collected data on knife and sharp instrument offences since April 2007 via a special additional data collection, so it is not possible to give data back to May 1997.
	Data are published annually. 2007-08 and 2008-09 data can be found in tables 7.11 and 7.12 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin Crime in England and Wales 2008/09 at the following link.
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crimeew0809.html

Crimes of Violence: Retail Trade

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) cautions,  (b) penalty notices for disorder and  (c) convictions resulted from incidents of violence against retail staff in (i) North Yorkshire, (ii) Lancashire, (iii) London and (iv) England in each of the last three years.

Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
	Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on cautions and court proceedings does not identify the employment status of a victim of an offence other than where specified in the statute. Therefore outcomes of violence against retail staff cannot be separately identified from other offences of assault and violence against the person.
	Penalty notices for disorder are not available for violent offences or when injury has been caused. They are only intended to be used for certain low level antisocial behaviour and public order offences.

Crimes of Violence: Taxis

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes were committed against taxi drivers in each region in each of the last two years.

Alan Campbell: Information is not available centrally on the number violent crimes committed against taxi drivers.

DNA: Databases

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  with reference to the written ministerial statement of 11 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 25-28WS, on DNA and fingerprint retention, whether those stopped and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 will have their DNA retained;
	(2)  how many people stopped and searched under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 have a record on the National DNA Database.

David Hanson: The stop and search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 do not include a power to take a DNA sample (or fingerprints) from a person.
	However, if a person is arrested following a search under section 44, samples and fingerprints may be taken and will be retained. The relevant retention arrangements will then apply.
	No figure is available in relation to the number of people initially stopped and searched under section 44, whose DNA has been retained because of a subsequent arrest. Profiles held on the national DNA database do not include the relevant legislation a person was arrested under, it only has the relevant police national computer (PNC) reference where this information would be held.

DNA: Databases

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to amend the National DNA Database to take account of the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary set out the Government's proposals for implementing the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S and Marper in a written ministerial statement on 11 November 2009,  Official Report, column 25WS. Legislation to give effect to these proposals is set out in the Crime and Security Bill, introduced on 19 November 2009.

Domestic Violence

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the merits of systems to enable anonymous reporting of domestic abuse.

Alan Campbell: There has not been a Government assessment of systems to enable anonymous reporting of domestic abuse.
	The Government expect all incidents of domestic violence to be taken seriously, however, they are reported. The implementation of specialist domestic violence courts and independent domestic violence advisers demonstrates that the Government are committed to ensuring that victims are supported throughout their engagement with the criminal and civil justice system.

Domestic Violence

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the cost of full implementation of all of proposals of his Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy.

Alan Campbell: The cross-Government strategy Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls was launched on 25 November 2009.
	A comprehensive new burdens assessment will be published shortly.

EU Law

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) statutory instruments and  (b) other regulations his Department has brought forward to meet obligations arising from EU law in this parliament.

David Hanson: Central records of statutory instruments made under specific powers have only been maintained by the Statutory Instruments Registrar since 2001. There are no central records maintained of other regulations. Since that time the Home Office has made 33 statutory instruments to meet obligations arising from EU law, under powers contained in the European Communities Act 1972.

Homophobia: Crime

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to reduce numbers of crimes of violence with a homophobic motive in the North West.

Alan Campbell: In September 2009 we launched the Cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan which contains a number of action points designed to reduce numbers of crimes of violence across all five hate crime strands, including sexual orientation. In particular, it commits the Home Office to produce guidance for Crime and Disorder Partnerships on preventing and responding to hate incidents and hate crimes.
	There is also a range of activity taking place in the North West to combat hate crime targeted at lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals. For example, bar owners and door staff in and around the gay quarter of Liverpool have recently received hate crime awareness-raising training. Further, Liverpool's Hate Crime Reduction Forum which brings stakeholders together from across Liverpool to address all strands of hate crime, funded the As One programme which was an educational awareness programme focused on youth centres in the Kensington area encompassing antisocial behaviour and diversity awareness.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will bring forward proposals to require the Independent Police Complaints Commission to inform his Department of the number of recommendations made by the Commission which have been  (a) rejected and  (b) implemented by the police force to which they are addressed; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how long on average police authorities have taken to make a response to recommendations of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in each of the last three years; what recent discussions he has had with  (a) the IPCC and  (b) police authorities on this issue; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will bring forward proposals to require individual police forces to  (a) accept,  (b) respond to and  (c) implement in full recommendations made by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC); and what (i) representations he has received from and (ii) discussions he has had with (A) police forces, (B) the IPCC and (C) members of the public on this issue in the last 12 months;
	(4)  if he will bring forward proposals to monitor the responses of police forces to the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which affect them; what recent discussions he has had with the IPCC on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: One of the functions of the police complaints system is to ensure that lessons are learned so that the service the public receives can be improved. The recommendations made by the IPCC are an important element in that improvement process.
	The Public Accounts Committee's Fifteenth Report on the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), published in March 2009, recommended that the Home Office clarify who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of IPCC recommendations made to police forces following an IPCC investigation.
	The Home Office is considering with the IPCC, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Association of Police Authorities and the Association of Chief Police Officers the implementation of a suitable system for monitoring the implementation of IPCC recommendations, both at national and local level. We aim to have arrangements in place by spring 2010.
	The specific information sought by the hon. Member is not collected by the Home Office.

Mephedrone

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the likely effects on health of the use of mephedrone as a recreational drug; what advice he has received from the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs on mephodrone; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Mephedrone (4-Methylmethcathinone) is a stimulant drug which is structurally related to cathinone and methcathinone, both of which are controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is currently considering the harms of Mephedrone and related cathinones compounds as a priority of its current review of so called 'legal highs', commissioned by the then Home Secretary earlier this year. The ACMD will report back early next year and their advice will inform our response to these substances. The Government's FRANK campaign provides information on Mephedrone with clear advice about its known harms provided by the Department of Health and our current 'legal highs' information campaign has included warnings about Mephedrone.

Mephedrone

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will bring forward proposals to prohibit the possession and supply of the recreational drug mephedrone;
	(2)  what recent meetings he has had with the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs to discuss the recreational drug mephedrone; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Mephedrone (4-Methylmethcathinone) is a stimulant drug which is structurally related to cathinone and methcathinone, both of which are controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. I had not met the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) specifically on this issue as they are already considering the harms of Mephedrone and related cathinones compounds as a priority of its current review of so called 'legal highs', commissioned by the then Home Secretary earlier this year. It is a statutory requirement that the ACMD are consulted before bringing an Order under the 1971 Act before Parliament. The ACMD will report back early next year and their advice will inform our consideration of the control of mephedrone under the 1971 Act.

Mephedrone

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what plans his Department has to classify mephedrone as a controlled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the harm associated with the use of mephedrone; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) is a stimulant drug which is structurally related to cathinone and methcathinone, both of which are controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), who we are required by statute to consult before bringing an order under the 1971 Act before Parliament, is currently considering the harms of mephedrone and related cathinones compounds as a priority of its current review of so called 'legal highs', commissioned by the then Home Secretary earlier this year. The ACMD will report back early next year and their advice will inform our consideration of the control of mephedrone under the 1971 Act. The Government's Frank campaign provides information on mephedrone with clear advice about its known harms provided by the Department of Health and our current 'legal highs' information campaign has included warnings about mephedrone.

Offences Against Children: Internet

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place for the sharing of information on online images of child abuse with the US authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is the reporting point for illegal images of child sexual abuse for the UK. When an image is reported, the IWF will notify the relevant INHOPE (the International Association of Internet Hotlines) Hotline in the country concerned, including in the United States, and will also inform the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). CEOP work closely with the Virtual Global Taskforce, and with the law enforcement agencies of other countries, to tackle such sites, and to arrest those responsible for them. CEOP works closely with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US.

Passports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a person with a complaint about a defective passport is entitled to speak to a manager at a local passport office.

Meg Hillier: We are always concerned to hear of any problem that our customers have and we look to provide a resolution as quickly as possible.
	Customers who wish to lodge a complaint about any aspect of the services that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) provides may do so via telephone, e-mail, letter, fax or in person at one of the seven regional passport offices. All IPS customer facing staff are fully trained in handling complaints, however, if unable to do so or if a customer specifically asks to see a manager, the public counter manager will make themselves available.

Passports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to compensate those whose passport applications have been subject to  (a) delays and  (b) errors in processing.

Meg Hillier: In accordance with current Treasury and Cabinet Office guidance, which indicates that they do not consider it is appropriate to recompense for anything other than quantifiable loss and that payments for distress and inconvenience should only be made in exceptional circumstances. It is the Identity and Passport Service's (IPS) policy to reimburse the reasonable and actual out of pocket expenses incurred by customers as a direct consequence of operational errors or omissions by its staff by means of an ex-gratia payment. It is not our normal policy to pay compensation for distress or inconvenience arising from these errors.

Passports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports issued in each of the last three years were replaced after being reported as damaged.

Meg Hillier: The recording of statistical data relating to faulty chips in passports began in January 2007 and, as at 31 October 2009, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has recorded a total of 389 passports returned by customers with suspected faulty chips. Records show that 14 of these were found not to be faulty and five chips had been damaged after dispatch by persons unknown.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on the reform of police authorities; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: In the development of the White Paper: Protecting the Public: Supporting the Police to Succeed I sought views from all key policing stakeholders on the planned Government reforms of police authorities in England and Wales. I was also strongly influenced by the review carried out by my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett).

Police: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the crime detection rate for Essex police force was in each year since 1996-97.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the table.
	It should be noted that non-sanction detections which contribute to the overall detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable.
	The detection rate is a ratio of crime detected in a period to crimes recorded in a period. It is not based on tracking whether individual crimes recorded in a period have eventually been detected.
	
		
			  Overall detection rate for offences recorded by the police in Essex 
			  Period  Detection rate (percentage) 
			 1996 29 
			 1997 27 
			 1997-98 28 
			 1998-99(1) 29 
			 1999-2000(2) 30 
			 2000-01(3) 26 
			 2001-02 26 
			 2002-03(4) 27 
			 2003-04 28 
			 2004-05 27 
			 2005-06 31 
			 2006-07 33 
			 2007-08 32 
			 2008-09 35 
			 (1) The percentage of crimes detected in that financial year using the expanded coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998. (2) New instructions which clarified the rules for detecting crime were introduced on 1 April 1999. (3) Essex police force was affected by boundary changes in April 2000. (4) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in 2002-03. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable.

Police: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions representatives of his Department have had with representatives of Essex Police Authority since May 2008; what issues were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: Although the Home Office engages actively with all forces and authorities, especially in the development of the recent Policing White Paper, no central record is kept of discussions that have taken place between the Home Office and individual police authorities.

Police: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when representatives of his Department last visited Essex Police Authority area; what issues were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The Home Office does not keep central records of visits made by officials.

Police: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will request the Chief Constable of Essex Police to compile a report on the  (a) number and  (b) location of reported anti-Semitic incidents in Essex since December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: This information is not held centrally, and we do not require police forces or authorities to hold statistics on these specific incidents. The statistics may be available directly from Essex police.

Stop and Search: Children

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been stopped and searched in each year since 2001; and how many of these procedures have taken place under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

David Hanson: holding answer 8 December 2009
	The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Data on stop and search procedures reported to the Home Office do not include the age of persons searched.

Stop and Search: Young People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people under the age of 18 have been stopped and searched in each police force area under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each year since 2000; and how many have subsequently been  (a) arrested (i) under that Act and (ii) for another reason and  (b) prosecuted (i) under that Act and (ii) for another reason, in each such area.

David Hanson: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Data on stop and search procedures reported to the Home Office do not include the age of persons searched. Additionally, the data collected do not include the number of persons who were subsequently proceeded against at court.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports the Prime Minister has received on levels of corruption in the Afghanistan government.

Ivan Lewis: Corruption is endemic throughout society and state. Pervasive corruption within government and the security forces undermines the legitimacy of the government and corrodes consent. Nearly one fifth of the Afghan population believe corruption is the country's biggest problem (after insecurity, unemployment and poor economy) and Afghanistan ranks second to last on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (before Somalia). President Karzai made a commitment to tackling corruption in his inauguration speech. We expect him to demonstrate this commitment by creating independent institutions that can prevent, detect and take action against corrupt practices in government. We will continue to offer a Multi-Agency Task Force of experts from across the Government to support the Afghan Government to tackle corruption.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, what steps have been agreed with the government of Afghanistan to ensure that all provinces and districts in Afghanistan have a governor appointed on merit, free from corruption and with clearly defined roles, skills and resources.

Douglas Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	President Karzai set out his commitments in his inauguration speech of 19 November 2009. We welcome the emphasis placed on the need for governors to have integrity and professionalism, and look forward to the announcement of appointments over the next nine months.
	We also welcome the Afghan Government's intention to reform sub-national governance. The reforms proposed will address various issues, including the definition of roles and responsibilities and the provision of training and resources. Once the reform proposals are agreed, the UK and its international partners will work with the Afghan Government to ensure that there are clear, time-bound targets for delivery.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-36W, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, what criteria will be used to determine whether an appointee for provincial or district governorship in Afghanistan is free from corruption; what body will be charged with making that assessment; and what agreement has been made with the government of Afghanistan in respect of consultation on such appointments.

Ivan Lewis: In his inauguration speech of 19 November 2009, President Karzai made clear his commitment to political reform and tackling corruption, including the appointment of clean and competent Ministers and Governors. The Afghan-led framework which ensures appointments are corruption-free centres on an asset registration process. This process is currently managed by the High Office of Oversight. UK support to the High Office of Oversight has thus far enabled it to register the assets of 50 per cent. of Cabinet Ministers and over 1,200 public officials. We have pressed the Afghan Government to establish strong and independent anti-corruption institutions that can report to the Afghan Parliament and public. The new institutions will have the responsibility to crack down on corruption cases.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6W, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, what benchmarks the Government has set for the government of Afghanistan; what plans he has to review those benchmarks; and by what mechanisms progress against these benchmarks will be measured.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister clearly laid out the benchmarks in his statement to the House on 30 November 2009. We regularly discuss progress and challenges with the Afghan Government and international partners and we will continue to do so regarding the benchmarks the Prime Minister has described.
	Other benchmarks had been previously agreed between the international community and the Afghan Government in the 2006 London Compact and are kept under review by the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), comprising of senior Afghan and international officials.
	The London Conference will be a further opportunity to review progress against the Prime Minister's benchmarks and the areas of work President Karzai highlighted in his inauguration speech, as well as an opportunity to set out international support to help the new Afghan Government deliver.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, what mechanisms will be used to monitor the record of the Afghan government on corruption; how often reports on such monitoring work will be made; and what plans he has to inform Parliament of the outcomes of such monitoring work.

Ivan Lewis: We have pressed the Afghan Government to establish strong and independent anti-corruption institutions that can report to the Afghan Parliament and public. President Karzai committed to tackle corruption in his inauguration speech. We will follow closely the delivery of this commitment. Priorities should be an anti-corruption commission that reports annually to the Afghan public and Parliament, and an independent accountability board to oversee the commission with both Afghan and international membership.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, whether he plans to assess the merits of reviewing the mandate of the United Nations in Afghanistan as part of the Government's policy on stronger civilian leadership in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) plays an essential and central role in coordinating civilian efforts in Afghanistan. We would like to see this role further reinforced and developed. Last week, the US and UK, together with many of our international security assistance force (ISAF) partners, announced a substantial uplift in the number of troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. It is important that the increasing growth, pace and effectiveness of ISAF's military efforts in Afghanistan are matched by similar improvements in the civil effort. We are working with the Government of Afghanistan, key international institutions such as the UN and NATO, and our international partners to ensure that this becomes a reality.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, whether the benchmarks for Afghanistan to meet have been agreed with the  (a) US administration and  (b) government of Afghanistan.

Ivan Lewis: We are in close and regular contact with the Government of Afghanistan, US and our other international security assistance force allies about progress in Afghanistan, including how we best measure that progress and prioritise our collective effort. The London Conference on Afghanistan, set for 28 January 2010, offers a further opportunity to discuss progress and will be part of a sequence of events to help to reinvigorate delivery in the priority areas of security, development and governance.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what objectives he has set for the 2010 London Conference on Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: On 28 November 2009, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that we would host an international conference on Afghanistan in London. The one-day event, to be held on 28 January 2010, will be opened by the Prime Minister and President Karzai and chaired by the Foreign Secretary.
	The main focus of the conference will be to deliver and coordinate support for the ambitious agenda set out in President Karzai's inauguration speech: increasing Afghan leadership on security issues; improving governance and reducing corruption; reintegration and reconciliation; improving economic and social development; and building closer regional relationships.

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 14 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 327-30W, on departmental contracts, what services were provided by Crown Agents under its contract for life support services in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Crown Agents has been contracted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to provide life support to our embassy in Kabul since April 2008. The service includes the provision of catering, laundry services, cleaning and waste removal.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Bangladeshi counterpart on the potential effect of sea level rises in the country.

Ivan Lewis: Environmental specialists studying the effects of climate change in Bangladesh believe that as many as 30 million Bangladeshis could be affected by a one metre rise in sea level. When my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain on 28 November 2009, they discussed the importance to Bangladesh of a robust deal on climate change. This included calling for a fair, equitable and global deal at Copenhagen, particularly on adaptation and mitigation, and sufficient, predictable and additional international finance. We will continue to work closely with the Bangladesh Government and civil society to secure an equitable deal at Copenhagen this week.

Bangladesh: Internally Displaced Persons

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in coastal zones of Bangladesh who may be displaced as a result of changes to the sea level in the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Environmental specialists studying the effects of climate change in Bangladesh believe that as many as 30 million Bangladeshis could be affected by a one metre rise in sea level; a likely scenario within the next 100 years. The Government consider this estimation credible. While a sea level rise of 10 cm over the next 10 years is unlikely to provoke large-scale migration from coastal areas, increased levels of salinity in fresh water will cause considerable health and agricultural problems. Adaptation to this new environment will be crucial.
	The Government remain the largest bilateral donor to Bangladesh. We led in the formation of the Multi-donor Trust Fund, a substantial fund for climate change adaptation projects, to which we have assigned £75 million over five years.
	We continue to work closely with the Bangladesh Government and civil society to secure an equitable deal at Copenhagen for Bangladesh, and suitable amounts of climate finance for large-scale adaptation to the effects of climate change.

British Council: Stratagem

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what payments the British Council has made to Stratagem in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments were made.

Chris Bryant: The British Council has made the following payments to Stratagem in the last 12 months:
	To support the delivery of a conference in Northern Ireland in September/October 2008, which brought together 100 young North Americans and Europeans-£1,470. (This covers the VAT, paid for separately to the £6,950 cost of the contract.)
	Annual e-mail subscription service, which provides political updates and analysis on local political developments in Northern Ireland-£813.75.
	Facilitation of Living Together International Congress in Poland in March 2009, the British Council's project on intercultural dialogue in South East Europe and the UK-£1,032.54.
	I will send under separate cover copies of the contracts for your information. At this time there are no plans to place copies of these contracts in the Library of the House. The e-mail subscription service is one of Stratagem's standard off-the-shelf products to which the British Council takes out a subscription and there is no separate contract.

British Overseas Territories: Cenotaph

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations the Government has received from representatives of Overseas Territories on the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph on their behalf.

Chris Bryant: We have received representations from some representatives of the overseas territories to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. We have no plans at present to change the existing arrangements.

Departmental Publicity

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on  (a) Ministerial photoshoots and  (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available.

Chris Bryant: A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) press officer is trained to take photographs so we do not need to employ external contractors for this work. The exception is that a photographer was hired in 2007, at a cost of £150 +VAT, to take shots of the new ministerial team. We are currently seeking to meet more of our video requirements in-house in order to save costs. The FCO had a public diplomacy contract with British Satellite News for 15 years which included filming some ministerial statements and engagements. This contract was terminated in September 2009 and it is not possible to disaggregate the cost of production of videos in which Ministers appear.

Departmental Recruitment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applicants for jobs in his Department have had their applications rejected on national security grounds in each year since 2001.

Chris Bryant: Since autumn 2008, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has rejected six applicants for employment on national security grounds, as the applicants failed to secure developed vetting (DV) clearance. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold statistics for the period prior to this date.

EU Institutions: Fines

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was levied in fines against the UK by EU institutions in the first six months of 2009.

Chris Bryant: The United Kingdom has never incurred a financial penalty for failure to comply with a European Court of Justice judgment under Article 228 (ex Article 171) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community.

Iran: Nuclear Power

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made recent representations to his Malaysian counterpart on Malaysia's policy on Iran's nuclear programme; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: My officials lobbied the Malaysian Government in advance of the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting to make clear the importance of sending a strong signal to Iran. In the event, Malaysia cast its vote against a resolution censuring Iran for its nuclear programme on 27 November 2009. Since the vote, the Malaysian Government have made a public statement saying that their vote against the resolution was not in line with government procedures and that their Permanent Representative to the IAEA has been recalled to Kuala Lumpur for consultations. My officials have spoken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have sent a Note Verbale recording our disappointment with the vote, but welcoming the subsequent public statement.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Israeli government on its compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution  (a) 478 of 1980, on Jerusalem and  (b) 1860 of 2009, on Gaza.

Ivan Lewis: We fully agree with the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 478, and do not recognise as valid under international law the Israeli basic law proclaiming a change in the character and status of Jerusalem. We have consistently made clear that we do not accept actions by Israel that seek to alter the status of Jerusalem and the Government's view that Israel does not have sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which remains occupied territory.
	We have made frequent representations to the Israeli Government on the key aspects of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 including the need for the sustained and regular flow of goods and people through the Gaza crossings and renewed efforts towards achieving a comprehensive peace.

Middle East: Overseas Aid

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of damage during Operation Cast Lead to properties constructed with public funding provided  (a) directly by the UK and  (b) by the EU.

Ivan Lewis: We have not made such an assessment and there would be significant obstacles to doing so accurately. Much UK and EU funding is donated in the form of contributions towards projects carried out by the UN Relief and Works Agency and the Palestinian Authority. However over 100 schools, three hospitals and five health clinics need full reconstruction or major repair. We continue to press the Israeli Government to allow the materials required for reconstruction into Gaza.

Moldova: Politics and Government

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest assessment is of the political situation in Moldova; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: On Monday 7 December 2009 the Moldovan Parliament failed for the second time to elect the President, when Marian Lupu (Chairman of the Democratic Party) failed to reach the minimum qualifying threshold following the opposition Communist party's boycott of the vote. This means that the Parliamentary Speaker Mihai Ghimpu (Chairman of the Liberal party) will remain Acting President.
	Parliament will need to be dissolved. However, this can only occur once within a 12 month period. It was last dissolved in June 2009. As a result, dissolution will only be possible after mid-June 2010 causing elections to be held around October 2010.
	With elections now firmly on the horizon, the Alliance will need to remain united in order to advance much needed economic and institutional reforms. When I met the Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister, Natalia Gherman, in November 2009, I underlined the UK's continued support for Moldova's democratic and economic development and its European integration.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the government of Sri Lanka to  (a) release all those in internment camps and  (b) establish a political settlement which takes into account the needs of the Tamil people.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed both these issues with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Bogollogama on 27 November 2009.
	We take every available opportunity to urge the Sri Lankan Government to ensure the early and safe return to their home areas of all internally displaced persons (IDPs). In recent weeks there has been some progress on returns; unconfirmed UN figures of 7 December 2009 estimate that over 150,000 IDPs had been returned to their home areas. The announcement that IDPs would be granted freedom of movement as of 1 December 2009 is a positive step. Some IDPs have already left, and we believe the opening of the camps and granting real freedom of movement will enable the thousands still living in the camps to start to rebuild their lives. It is now imperative that humanitarian agencies are given full access to the IDPs so that they can provide them with the help they need both in the camps and in their places of return.
	We have also regularly made clear our view that Sri Lanka has a unique opportunity-and duty-to work for genuine political reconciliation. We have urged the Government to resolve the underlying causes of the conflict through an inclusive political process which addresses the legitimate grievances and aspirations of all communities-Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Christmas

David Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many Christmas trees were purchased by the Government Equalities Office in each year since its establishment; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of.

Michael Jabez Foster: Since it's creation on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has not purchased any Christmas trees.

Dalits: Discrimination

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what research the Government Equalities Office is undertaking on the level of discrimination by caste and descent against Dalit peoples resident in the UK.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Department is aware of the scoping study published last month by the Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance and asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission to consider one of the study's recommendations for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to conduct further research.

Departmental Operating Costs

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality for what reasons year-on-year the running costs of the Government Equalities Office have increased since its inception.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office was established as a Government Department in October 2007. Staff and administration resources transferred from the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to form the GEO. These transfers were based upon the resources transferring and not the resources required for the establishment of a new Department with extra responsibilities.
	The build up of staff and resources reflects:
	(a) the cost of establishment of the Department (for example press and private offices, a correspondence team, finance and human resources teams) and
	(b) extra resources allocated to the delivery of an Equality Bill and work on the Equality agenda including the Minister for Women's Priorities.

Departmental Security

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many security passes her Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months.

Michael Jabez Foster: Over the past 12 months the Government Equalities Office has not issued any security passes to consultants.

TREASURY

Agricultural Products: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many consignments of agricultural produce imported from Israel and checked by HM Revenue and Customs were identified as originating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in the last 12 months; and how many of those consignments were originally represented as originating in Israel.

Stephen Timms: A total of six consignments have been identified as originating in an Israeli settlement. All of them were claiming Israeli preferential origin.

Agricultural Products: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many consignments of agricultural produce imported from Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories were checked by HM Revenue and Customs to verify their place of origin in the last 12 months; and how many of such consignments were of  (a) avocados,  (b) herbs,  (c) dates,  (d) peppers and  (e) tahini or halva.

Stephen Timms: Since July 2008 HM Revenue and Customs has undertaken 49 physical examinations of fresh produce, including avocado pears, dates and herbs, imported under the EU-Israel Agreement. 10 examinations were undertaken in respect of avocados. No investigations were undertaken in respect of consignments of pepper and tahini or halva. Separate figures are not available for the number of examinations in respect of dates and herbs. Two labelling irregularities were identified for herbs.

Child Tax Credit: Grandparents

Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the number of grandparents eligible to claim child tax credits for grandchildren in their care; and what proportion of this group receive such credits.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is not available as the survey used to estimate eligibility does not provide large enough sample sizes to accurately estimate the number of grandparents eligible to claim child tax credits for grandchildren in their care, and HMRC data does not record the nature of the relationship between the child and the child tax credit recipient where the claimant is not their parent.

Child Trust Fund

Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been allocated to child trust funds in each year since 2003; and how much such funding he plans to allocate in each of the next two years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information in relation to the allocated costs of Government contributions to child trust fund accounts, including forecasted costs to 2012-13, is contained in table 9 of the 2009 Statistical Report which can be viewed on HM Revenue and Customs' website:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctf/statistical-report-2009.pdf
	For years prior to 2007-08 the allocated costs were set at £240 million per full year.

Cosmetics: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many consignments of cosmetics were imported from  (a) Israel and  (b) Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in each of the last three years.

Stephen Timms: The term cosmetics covers a diverse range of products. Therefore the figures provided cover the most likely imports of interest-beauty and skin preparations, including skincare products and aftershave and bath preparations, deodorants and similar products.
	
		
			  Israel 
			   Consignments 
			  Beauty and skin care preparations  
			 2007 246 
			 2008 260 
			 2009 370 
			   
			  Aftershave and bath preparations, deodorants and similar products  
			 2007 41 
			 2008 32 
			 2009 47 
		
	
	Checks have not revealed any imports of the above products from Palestine. The Occupied Palestinian Territories do not have their own country of origin code. Consequently, importers can only declare Israel or Palestine as the country of origin on the Customs import declaration.

Council Tax: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of properties which have been revalued for council tax purposes in the London borough of Bexley in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many such revaluations resulted in a change of council tax banding.

Ian Pearson: In the last three years, the changes to council tax bands for Bexley, including increases and reductions, as a result of day-to-day work undertaken by the VOA in maintaining valuation lists, are as follows:
	 Number of properties in list as at 1 April 200 6 -93,778
	
		
			  Number of changes (including percentage) between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Number deleted 119 
			 Deleted as a percentage of total bands 0.13 
			   
			 Number increased 103 
			 Increased as a percentage of total bands 0.11 
			   
			 New dwellings 291 
			 New as a percentage of total bands 0.31 
			   
			 Number decreased 148 
			 Decreased as a percentage of total bands 0.16 
		
	
	 Number of properties in list as at 1 April 2007-93,950
	
		
			  Number of changes (including percentage) between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Number deleted 77 
			 Deleted as a percentage of total bands 0.08 
			   
			 Number increased 176 
			 Increased as a percentage of total bands 0.19 
			   
			 New dwellings 404 
			 New as a percentage of total bands 0.43 
			   
			 Number decreased 220 
			 Decreased as a percentage of total bands 0.23 
		
	
	 Number of properties in list as at 1 April 2008-94,277
	
		
			  Number of changes (including percentage) between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Number deleted 390 
			 Deleted as a percentage of total bands 0.41 
			   
			 Number increased 54 
			 Increased as a percentage of total bands 0.06 
			   
			 New dwellings 735 
			 New as a percentage of total bands 0.78 
			   
			 Number decreased 178 
			 Decreased as a percentage of total bands 0.19

Departmental Security

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many security passes his Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Departmental systems record all such passes issued, but do not separately identify information in the format requested, which could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost. All persons working in HM Treasury buildings are required to have a minimum level of security clearance before they are issued with a building security pass. This includes permanent passes, day passes and visitors' passes.

Equitable Life Ex-gratia Payment Scheme Review

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what level of remuneration is being provided to Sir John Chadwick for undertaking work in order to provide advice on an ex-gratia payment scheme; and how much  (a) time Sir John spent on such work and  (b) he was paid (i) between 17 July 2009 and 18 August 2009 and (ii) since 1 November 2009.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Sir John Chadwick is paid at the rate of £250 per hour for the performance of his services, excluding VAT. This is substantially less than judges of Sir John's standing would charge commercially.
	Sir John has been contracted to oversee and lead the work of his Office, to time scales broadly equivalent to two days a week. This is being kept under review.

EU External Trade: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Mitzpe Shalem is considered to be in Israel for the purposes of the EU-Israel Trade Agreement.

Stephen Timms: Mitzpe Shalem where Mitzpe is spelt with a letter 't' does not appear on the current list of Settlements locations which was transmitted by the European Commission to member states' customs authorities in September 2009. However, the settlement at Mizpe Shalem where Mizpe is spelt without a 't' is on the list.

Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks

Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to amend the rate of alcohol duty consequent on the return of the rate of value added tax to 17.5 per cent.; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The 2008 pre-Budget report announced that the increases made to alcohol duties will be maintained when the standard rate of VAT is returned to 17.5 per cent. in January 2010 to help fiscal consolidation. The 2009 pre-Budget confirmed this announcement.

Imports

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance HM Revenue and Customs has issued to ensure that goods or produce imported to the UK is designated according to place of production rather than location of company headquarters.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs publishes guidance across a wide range of customs matters. This includes advising UK importers of the need to check that goods imported under the EU-Israel agreement actually originate in the state of Israel. The guidance includes Customs information papers which are published on the HMRC website.

Imports: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what means HM Revenue and Customs ensures that the labelling of produce in mixed consignments of imports containing produce from both Israel and from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories for the purposes of customs duties is consistent with that used for supermarket tracking systems.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs undertakes the physical examination of goods imported under the EU-Israel Agreement at the time of importation to establish whether the place of production shown on packaging is the same as that in the accompanying proof of preferential origin. Such checks would only involve reference to a supermarket tracking system, where the supermarket concerned is shown as the importer on the Customs import declaration.

Imports: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what mechanism HM Revenue and Customs ensures that produce identified by supermarket tracking systems as originating in Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories does not benefit from the trade preference under the EU-Israel Trade Agreement.

Stephen Timms: When carrying out verification checks, HM Revenue and Customs only has access to the supporting documents, systems and records which relate directly to the import declaration. This may not include access to the supermarket tracking system as checks reveal that, in most cases, a supermarket is not the actual importer of the goods.

Non-Domestic Rates: Valuation

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors the Valuation Office Agency takes into account when making rating assessments for petrol filling stations; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency adopts the rental comparative method of valuation when valuing petrol filling stations for rating purposes. Valuations reflect the four main elements of a petrol filling station; the petrol sales forecourt, the forecourt shop, the car wash facilities and other sources of income from non-forecourt buildings such as workshops and showrooms and the like. The factors considered when making such a valuation include the fair maintainable throughputs and turnovers, which are derived from factors such as the location, layout of the site, and number of pumps.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Lorely Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he intends to take following the National Audit Office's conclusion that net lending to business by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will not meet the legally binding targets agreed between RBS and the Government in negotiating the Asset Protection Scheme.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The lending commitments are legally binding on the banks and include sanctions such as restricting access to the Credit Guarantee Scheme. If the banks fail to meet their commitments and cannot satisfactorily demonstrate that this is due to insufficient demand for lending, the Government will impose these sanctions.

Welfare Tax Credits

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many cases were handled by the Tax Credit Office in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what percentage of cases handled by the HM Revenue and Customs were handled by the Tax Credit Office in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The Tax Credit Office (TCO) was set up by the former Inland Revenue in October 1999.
	Detailed information about the administration of tax credits for all years can be found in the Department's reports, trust statements and the Comptroller and Auditor General's standard reports which are all available on the HMRC website at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/reports.htm
	Statistical information on tax credits can be found at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm

Welfare Tax Credits: Complaints

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many complaints from members of the public the Tax Credit Office received in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what percentage of complaints received by HM Revenue and Customs concerned the Tax Credit Office in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: Information about the number of complaints handled by the different HMRC business areas, including tax credits, is broken down in the annexes of the departmental reports available at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/reports.htm
	Complaints to the Tax Credit Office are about 40 per cent. lower in the current year then for the same period last year.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Fire Prevention

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations on measures to improve fire safety his Department has received from coroners in each of the last three years.

Shahid Malik: The Department has received three representations on measures to improve fire safety from coroners in the last three years. These representations were made under Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984 and as amended by the Coroners (Amendment) Rules 2008.
	The representations received were from:
	8 March 2007 Mr. E Thomas, Coroner for Hertfordshire, after the inquests into the death of Michael Miller; Jeffrey Wornham and Natalie Close
	1 July 2009 Dr. E Carlyon, Coroner for Cornwall, after the inquests into the death of Joan Harper, Peter Harper and Monica Hughes
	14 July 2009 Mr. C Dorries, Coroner for South Yorkshire, after the inquest into the death of Margaret Wilson

Fire Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to transfer Fire and Rescue Service operational command and control arrangements to regional level in England.

Shahid Malik: The responsibility for operational command and control will remain, as is now, with local Fire and Rescue Services.

Fire Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what duties are performed by fire brigade control rooms; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: The primary duties of the fire brigade control rooms are operations such as call handling and mobilising resources. They may also provide other duties but this is for individual Fire and Rescue Services to determine.

Fire Services: Emergency Calls

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) genuine and  (b) bogus fire emergency calls have been received in Leeds North West in each year since 2006.

Shahid Malik: This information is held centrally only to Fire Authority level. The numbers of malicious false alarm calls and other emergency calls to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Total emergency calls and malicious false alarms calls to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service 2006-07 to 2008-09 
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Malicious false alarms calls 3,903 2,395 2,149 
			 Other emergency calls 88,458 82,000 76,163 
			 Total emergency calls 92,361 84,395 78,312 
			  Source: Data returns to Communities and Local Government

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost to date of the FiReControl project in the  (a) South West,  (b) South East,  (c) East of England,  (d) West Midlands,  (e) East Midlands,  (f) Yorkshire and the Humber,  (g) North West and  (h) North East regions.

Shahid Malik: Estimated costs to date of the FiReControl Project in each of the regions are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Region  Total by region (£) 
			  (a) South West 13,300,000 
			  (b) South East 9,300,000 
			  (c) East of England 6,400,000 
			  (d) West Midlands 9,700,000 
			  (e) East Midlands 11,600,000 
			  (f) Yorkshire and the Humber 5,200,000 
			  (g) North West 7,400,000 
			  (h) North East 10,300,000 
			 Total 73,200,000 
		
	
	This includes costs associated with the Regional Control Centre buildings up to end of November 2009. It also includes funding provided to Fire and Rescue Authorities and local authority controlled companies for local and regional implementation activity up to the end of financial year 2009-10.

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department has allocated for the purposes of meeting new burden costs associated with the implementation of regional fire control centres since 2002; and for what activities such funding has been allocated.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 December 2009
	 We are committed to meeting all the upfront costs of implementing the regional control centre network. A total of £68,753,000 has been provided to fire and rescue authorities for implementation of regional control centres. This funding has been allocated in recognition of the costs of all local and regional implementation activities including project management and coordination, transition activities such as data capture and migration and preparation for new ways of working. This includes funding to cover regional control centre staffing and accommodation.

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse was of the report by Mott McDonald on the  (a) Future of Fire Service Control Rooms and Communications in England and Wales, April 2000 and  (b) Future of Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms in England and Wales 2003; what the cost, including value added tax has been of all consultants' fees in respect of the FiReControl project; what his most recent estimate is of his Department's total expenditure on such fees in respect of that project; and when he expects all contracts for consultancy services in respect of that project to have ended.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 December 2009
	 The Department does not hold individual figures for the reports referred to at  (a) and  (b)
	Estimated fees reflecting support provided in a range of specialist areas such as procurement, contract management, building services and system development, up to end of October 2009 is £43 million. Current estimates of remaining fees up to the end of 2012 are around £6.2 million. Specialist support is expected to be needed up to various different points in the project and some until the end of the project.

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on bonuses paid to officials of his Department who have worked on the FireControl Project team in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 December 2009
	Bonuses paid to officials who have worked on the FiReControl Project team in the last three years are
	2006-07: £733.00
	2007-08: £8,600.00
	2008-09:£9,505.00.
	These payments have been made in line with the department's pay and reward policy.

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department allocated to each fire authority in each region for the purposes of meeting  (a) new burdens and  (b) other costs in respect of the FiReControl Project in each year since 2002.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 December 2009
	All local and regional costs associated with the implementation of FiReControl are met under the New Burdens principle. No funding was provided prior to financial year 2005-06. The following table indicates funding provided to meet local costs:
	
		
			  Transition funding 
			   FY05-06  FY06-07  FY07-08  FY08-09  FY09-10 
			 Avon Fire Authority 31,620 52,986 56,041 57,554 59,108 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority 11,616 76,984 111,904 137,973 115,000 
			 Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority 12,002 95,539 135,766 130,338 115,000 
			 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority 11,170 80,367 118,157 183,330 115,000 
			 Cheshire Fire Authority 15,230 93,692 177,393 179,326 117,599 
			 Cleveland Fire Authority 32,153 189,710 272,038 205,473 115,000 
			 Cornwall County Council 28,048 52,986 56,041 57,554 59,108 
			 County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority 30,153 142,711 293,546 193,464 115,000 
			 Cumbria County Council 12,998 85,964 128,299 208,472 131,599 
			 Derbyshire Fire Authority 27,997 158,097 613,165 196,803 158,429 
			 Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority 58,998 777,606 56,041 1,224,317 715,687 
			 Dorset Fire Authority 29,611 52,986 56,041 57,554 59,108 
			 East Sussex Fire Authority 11,555 92,743 143,631 145,257 120,836 
			 Essex Fire Authority 15,411 92,743 116,762 298,542 232,824 
			 Gloucestershire County Council 29,834 52,986 56,041 57,554 59,108 
			 Greater London Authority (GLA) 64,654 234,150 659,062 876,173 1,551,497 
			 Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority 25,498 118,093 283,346 299,339 204,279 
			 Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority 14,457 112,472 320,891 221,444 243,771 
			 Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority 11,892 148,228 319,276 122,805 115,000 
			 Hertfordshire County Council 11,839 82,413 117,039 183,228 137,428 
			 Humberside Fire Authority 13,904 83,956 123,023 115,000 115,000 
			 Isle of Wight County Council 8,653 87,620 123,409 115,000 115,000 
			 Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority 15,573 115,410 296,981 355,901 190,302 
			 Lancashire Combined Fire Authority 19,025 99,611 224,957 254,841 153,871 
			 Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority 28,220 200,111 430,189 124,926 115,000 
			 Lincolnshire County Council 26,657 148,069 525,606 204,480 129,681 
			 Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority 21,257 103,780 203,857 213,005 139,998 
			 Norfolk County Council 12,063 80,402 114,579 132,616 129,578 
			 North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority 12,341 84,736 124,080 131,379 115,000 
			 Northamptonshire County Council 26,211 144,838 269,850 151,421 119,225 
			 Northumberland County Council 28,814 131,634 248,152 190,027 115,000 
			 Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire Authority 27,550 159,421 525,224 182,492 121,750 
			 Oxfordshire County Council 9,993 94,284 143,809 144,164 115,000 
			 Royal Berkshire Fire Authority 12,448 97,139 157,405 117,262 115,000 
			 Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority 11,000 137,554 269,128 143,216 115,000 
			 South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority 16,136 88,618 170,161 183,101 119,050 
			 Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Fire Authority 13,678 161,277 331,031 158,803 115,000 
			 Suffolk County Council 11,616 79,425 115,043 213,955 134,503 
			 Surrey County Council 11,555 104,085 143,551 133,302 116,407 
			 Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority 33,948 160,944 388,365 240,983 133,871 
			 Warwickshire County Council 10,553 138,902 256,054 142,717 115,000 
			 West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority 9,965 221,473 484,746 370,543 229,542 
			 West Sussex County Council 12,002 98,583 165,744 153,802 128,443 
			 West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority 18,815 104,122 315,406 164,911 115,000 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority 28,718 52,986 56,041 57,554 59,108 
		
	
	The following table indicates funding provided to meet regional costs:
	
		
			  Regional funding (paid to a nominated lead authority) 
			   FY05-06  FY06-07  FY07-08  FY08-09  FY09-10 
			 East Midlands 155,106 135,832 1,694,415 2,698,027 2,557,832 
			 East of England 144,327 135,832 216,551 591,501 1,252,466 
			 North East 152,271 135,832 921,379 2,739,983 2,474,220 
			 North West 150,143 135,832 261,301 1,650,216 2,298,807 
			 South East 154,394 135,832 216,551 1,308,297 1,278,760 
			 South West. 166,737 135,832 256,551 1,891,806 1,749,498 
			 West Midlands 142,199 135,832 301,051 2,160,885 2,030,057 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 140,215 135,832 216,551 367,693 1,187,080

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) staffing, including civil servants, temporary and agency staff,  (b) secondment and  (c) travel costs his Department had incurred in respect of the national FiReControl project team on the latest date for which figures are available; and what his most recent estimate is of such costs on completion of the project.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 December 2009
	 The FiReControl project latest figures and recent estimate of the cost of the completion of the project is:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Costs to November 2009  December 2009 to FY 2013  Total 
			  (a) Civil servant/agency/temporary 24.2 14.3 38.5 
			  (b) Secondment 7 3.3 10.3 
			  (c) Travel and subsistence 1.5 4.8 6.3 
			 Total 32.7 22.4 55.1

Fire Services: Manpower

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff have been recruited to the regional fire control centre in  (a) the South West,  (b) the South East,  (c) the East of England,  (d) the East Midlands,  (e) the West Midlands,  (f) Yorkshire and the Humber,  (g) the North West and  (h) the North East.

Shahid Malik: The Department provides funding for each Local Authority Control Company (LACC) for three defined staff roles: Regional Control Centre Director (RCCD), Senior Operations Manager (SOM) and Service Support Manager (SSM). There are eight RCCDs in post, seven SOMs and seven SSMs (or their equivalents). The Department also provides funding for LACCs to procure professional advice and it is at the discretion of the LACCs how this is spent.
	
		
			  Regional FiReControl Centre  RCCD  SOM  SSM 
			 East Midlands Yes Yes Yes 
			 South West Yes Yes Yes 
			 North East Yes Yes Yes 
			 West Midlands Yes Yes Yes 
			 South East Yes Yes Yes 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Yes Yes Yes 
			 North West Yes Yes No 
			 East of England Yes No Yes

Fire Services: Operating Costs

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost has been of establishing and operating each regional fire control room to date; and what the estimated monthly cost of operating each regional fire control room is expected to be over the next 12 months.

Shahid Malik: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 31 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 1040-41W, and the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) today (PQ 305843).

Housing: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many housing project developments have been approved in areas of outstanding natural beauty  (a) in the first instance by local council planning authorities and  (b) on appeal in each of the last three years; how many houses were involved in each project; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: Information is not held centrally on local authority planning permissions for housing in areas of outstanding beauty. The Planning Inspectorate does hold information on appeals but details of whether or not they were in areas of outstanding natural beauty could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will review the fire safety provisions and regulations relating to  (a) multi-storey hostel,  (b) student and  (c) key worker housing for the purpose of making further fire safety provisions; and if he will require the owners of such accommodation to conduct their own fire safety checks.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 December 2009
	 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006. In March 2009, my Department published an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the order which indicated the legislation was bedding in well. We therefore have no plans, at present, to review it.
	The Fire Safety order places the responsibility for fire safety in all non-domestic premises, including hostels and halls of residence, in England and Wales, with a 'responsible person' for the premises-usually the employer, owner or occupier. It requires the responsible person for the premises to carry out a fire safety risk assessment and to put in place appropriate fire safety measures to adequately protect lives in the event of a fire.
	In other types of multi-occupied residential premises, including blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation, the order applies to the common parts of the premises, rather than the individual domestic units themselves. In these premises, the 'responsible person' is likely to be the landlord.

Housing: Rural Areas

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes in rural areas have been demolished in each year since 1997.

Ian Austin: The information requested is not held centrally.

Non-domestic Rates: Sports

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities are planning to  (a) remove and  (b) reduce from 2009-10 levels the discretionary rate relief available to sports clubs in 2010-11.

Barbara Follett: Discretionary rate relief is solely a matter for the local authority. Communities and Local Government does not collect data on local authorities' plans with regard to rate relief.

Ordnance Survey

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions his Department has had with the independent mapping sector on the effect on that sector of its proposals for Ordnance Survey in drafting its consultation on Re-mapping the future for Ordnance Survey.

Ian Austin: In developing policy proposals for Ordnance Survey, officials in Shareholder Executive have had a number of meetings and conversations with individuals, companies and organisations from the private sector geographic information market. The purpose of these was to understand better the external environment in which Ordnance Survey operates. Independent consultants working for Shareholder Executive have also had similar meetings. The purpose of the forthcoming consultation is to hear further feedback on the policy proposals from all interested parties.

Ordnance Survey

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account he takes in his formulation of policy on the mapping sector of the effect on the independent mapping sector of his Department's support for the activities of Ordnance Survey.

Ian Austin: The Government recognise that Ordnance Survey operates in a commercial marketplace and any change must be implemented carefully to reflect this. The purpose of the forthcoming consultation is to hear further feedback on the policy proposals from all interested parties, including the independent mapping sector.

Ordnance Survey: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments Ordnance Survey has made to Mandate Communications/AS Biss in the last 12 months; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each of the contracts under which such payments have been made.

Ian Austin: Mandate Communications provides Ordnance Survey with consultancy and advice on Corporate Communications and Public Affairs.
	Payments made by Ordnance Survey to Mandate Communications for these services for the 12 months up to the 31 October 2009 total £ 53,900 inclusive of VAT.
	I am unable to place a copy of Ordnance Survey's contract with Mandate Communications in the Library of the House due to its content being commercially confidential.

Right to Buy Scheme: Rural Areas

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many right to buy sales there were in rural areas in each year since 1997; what the average discount available to buyers was; and what the average discount was as a percentage of the value of such property.

John Healey: The following table shows the number of local authority right to buy homes sold in rural areas, the average discount and market value of these sales, and the discount as a proportion of the average market value, in each year since 1997-98:
	
		
			   Local authority right to buy sales in rural areas 
			   Number  Average discount (£)  Average market value (£)  Discount as a percentage of value 
			 1997-98 12,820
			 1998-99 11,420 21,000 43,000 49 
			 1999-2000 15,250 22,000 47,000 47 
			 2000-01 12,840 22,000 49,000 45 
			 2001-02 12,450 22,000 50,000 43 
			 2002-03 14,590 23,000 57,000 41 
			 2003-04 13,950 23,000 60,000 37 
			 2004-05 8,990 22,000 63,000 35 
			 2005-06 5,190 24,000 77,000 32 
			 2006-07 3,280 25,000 88,000 29 
			 2007-08 2,000 26,000 98,000 27 
			 2008-09 420 27,000 101,000 26 
		
	
	These figures reflect the sales of local authority properties through the right to buy scheme in the 178 local authorities defined as rural by the Defra rural definition (2004).
	The figures are from quarterly P1B returns from local authorities to CLG. Number of sales and financial data from 2005-06 onwards include imputation for a small number of missing returns. Prior to this, the figures on average discounts, average market values, and discount as a percentage of market value in rural areas are based on the reported figures, and do not include imputation for missing returns. Financial details on right to buy sales are not available prior to 1998-99.
	Right to buy and preserved right to buy sales can also be made by registered social landlords (RSLs). Data on RSL RTB sales are collected by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), but these figures are not available by the spatial level required to provide estimates of RTB sales in rural areas. Typically LA sales make up around 80 per cent. of total RTB sales in England.

CABINET OFFICE

Cinemas: Closures

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cinemas have closed in  (a) England and  (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of cinemas which have closed in (a) England and (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008 (303714).
	ONS does not have any statistics on the number of cinemas. Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at www.statistics.gov.uk. The table below contains the latest statistics available on business deaths of cinema businesses for England and the constituency of North East Cambridgeshire. All counts are based on enterprises and not local units (i.e. sites). Where a local unit closes but the enterprise continues to trade at other sites, a death will not be recorded in this data.
	
		
			  Counts of deaths of enterprises for 2008 
			England  North East Cambridgeshire 
			 5914 Motion picture projection activities 25 0

Death

David Crausby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average age of mortality was  (a) in 1996 and  (b) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Dawn Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, 1 have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the average age of mortality was (a) in 1996 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. (304530)
	The average (mean) age at death in England and Wales was (a) 75 years in 1996 and (b) 77 years in 2008 (the latest year available).(1,2)
	(1) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.
	(2) Figures are based on deaths registered in each calendar year.

Departmental Energy

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the energy  (a) rating and  (b) band of each building occupied by her Department and its agency was in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what the  (a) energy rating and  (b) energy band of each building occupied by her Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: OGC publish central Government Departments' Display Energy Certificate (DEC) operational ratings on a building by building level twice a year. The most recent data, published on 31 July 2009, contains DEC data up to and including 28 February. Data relating to the month ending 30 September will be published on 18 December. More information on this can be found on the appropriate website
	www.ogc.gov.uk/sustainability_programme_progress
	The table OGC is publishing will also include DEC reference numbers for each building, which can be used to view each building's advisory report on the following website:
	https://www.ndepcregister.com/home.html
	The answer is also included in the tables:
	
		
			  2007-08 
			  Building  Rating  Score 
			 9 Whitehall E 118 
			 22 Whitehall D 87 
			 26 Whitehall E 112 
			 36 Whitehall D 88 
			 70 Whitehall E 122 
			 35 Great Smith Street F 137 
			 67 Tufton Street E 120 
			 Admiralty Arch E 110 
			 Admiralty House E 110 
			 Downing Street D 76 
			 Central Office of Information G 206 
			 Emergency Planning College (Main) C 74 
			 Emergency Planning College (Accommodation Block) C 67 
		
	
	
		
			  Building  Rating  Score 
			  2008-09 
			 9 Whitehall E 125 
			 22 Whitehall E 118 
			 26 Whitehall E 121 
			 36 Whitehall D 84 
			 70 Whitehall E 111 
			 35 Great Smith Street F 133 
			 67 Tufton Street G 190 
			 Admiralty Arch E 119 
			 Admiralty House F 135 
			 Downing Street E 101 
			 Central Office of Information G 223 
			 Emergency Planning College (Main) D 83 
			 Emergency Planning College (Accommodation Block) C 65 
		
	
	There are a number of factors that account for the increase in DEC ratings to the Cabinet Office buildings. The most significant factor being that currently many staff are working longer hours and at weekends. The increased intensity of use is not considered when evaluating DECs.
	The Cabinet Office central London estate has applied and been accepted for a grant of £681,000.00 from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Low Carbon Technology Scheme to undertake a number of carbon saving initiatives.

Drinking Water

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the policy is of  (a) her Department,  (b) its agency and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies on the provision of bottled water for official meetings.

Angela Smith: The policy for the Cabinet Office is to use tap water for official meetings.

Employment Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many people are participating in each Government-supported training scheme and employment programme classified as employment for the purpose of the monthly labour market statistics;
	(2)  what schemes are classified as Government-supported training and employment programmes for the purpose of the monthly labour market statistics.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many people are participating in each Government-supported training scheme and employment programme classified as employment for the purpose of the monthly labour market statistics and what schemes are classified as Government-supported training scheme and employment programmes for the purpose of the monthly labour market statistics. (304383, 304384)
	The estimate of the total number of people in employment who are participating in Government-supported training schemes and employment programmes are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
	The current Government Supported training schemes and employment programmes specifically identified by the LFS comprise: Work-based Learning for Young People (those aged 16-25 in Great Britain); Work-based Learning for Adults/Training for Work (Great Britain only); Job Skills and Worktrack (Northern Ireland only); and Entry to Employment.
	Some variants of the New Deal: working for the Voluntary Sector or an Environmental Task Force; Basic Employment Training (BET) and Education and Training Opportunities (ETO) are also included.
	Estimates of the numbers participating in each scheme and programme are considered too unreliable for practical purposes due to the small sample sizes involved and therefore cannot be provided. However, the latest total figure published in the monthly Labour Market Statistical Bulletin for the period July to September 2009 is 107,000.

Food Strategy Task Force

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the names are of each member of her Department's Food Strategy Task Force group on  (a) vision and strategy,  (b) joint research strategy,  (c) healthier food mark,  (d) integrated consumer advice,  (e) global foods market and  (f) food communications and campaigns; in which Government department or agency each group member works; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Food Strategy Task Force was established by the Cabinet Office in July 2008, to oversee the delivery of activities identified in the Food Matters cross-Governmental strategy on food. It was comprised of civil servants from Cabinet Office, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Health, the Chief Scientific Adviser, the Department for International Development, the Treasury, the Food Standards Agency, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Department for Energy and Climate Change, and the Devolved Administrations. Progress of this work was set out in the Food Matters One Year On report which was published in August 2009. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Following completion of most of the agreed actions, the Food Strategy Task Force was wound up and responsibility for ongoing cross-Governmental co-ordination of food policy was transferred to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	Some of the sub-committees established to support the Food Strategy Task Force continue to meet, where their work is not yet concluded. They have a wide-ranging membership from across Whitehall and outside. The exact officials who attend each meeting are not necessarily constant; rather Departments and organisations are represented by the official they feel most appropriate. Departments and organisations represented across these groups include those listed, representatives from local administrations and services and representatives from various research councils, among others.

Lone Parents: Employment

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many lone parents were in work in  (a) 1998 and  (b) 2005; and how many lone parents were in work in each local authority area in the North West on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Dawn Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many lone parents were in work in (a) 1998 and (b) 2005; and how many lone parents were in work in each local authority area in the North West on the most recent date for which figures are available. (304677)
	The information requested is given in the tables attached. The figures in table 1 are the number of lone parents in employment in the UK. These estimates come from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) household datasets and are available for the three month period ending in June of each year requested.
	Information at local authority level comes from the Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets. Table 2 shows the number of lone parents and confidence intervals for each local authority within the North West for January to December 2008.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS and APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty as different samples give different results. The confidence intervals provided in table 2 give an indication as to the accuracy of the estimates, and how much they could vary if taken from a different sample. These estimates are such that there is 95 per cent certainty that from all samples possible they will lie within the lower and upper bounds.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of working-age( 1)  lone parents with dependent children( 2)  in employment, April to June 1998 and 2005, United Kingdom 
			  April to June each year  Level (thousand) 
			 1998 778 
			 2005 1,023 
			 (1) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. (2) Children under 16 and those aged 16-18 who have never married and are in full-time education.  Source: LFS household datasets 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of working-age( 1)  lone parents with dependent children( 2 ) in employment with 95% confidence intervals( 3)  by each local authority in the North West region, January to December 2008 
			  Thousand 
			   Level  Lower CI  Upper CI 
			 United Kingdom 1,070 1,030 1,111 
			 North West 129 119 139 
			 Bolton 5 3 6 
			 Bury 4 3 5 
			 Manchester 9 7 12 
			 Oldham 5 3 6 
			 Rochdale 4 2 5 
			 Salford 5 4 6 
			 Stockport 6 4 8 
			 Tameside 5 4 6 
			 Trafford 5 3 6 
			 Wigan 5 3 7 
			 Knowsley 5 4 6 
			 Liverpool 9 6 12 
			 St. Helens 3 2 4 
			 Sefton 6 4 8 
			 Wirral 6 4 8 
			 Halton 3 2 3 
			 Warrington 4 3 5 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 3 2 3 
			 Blackpool 4 3 4 
			 Chester 3 1 4 
			 Congleton (4)- (4)- (4)- 
			 Crewe and Nantwich 1 0 2 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 2 0 3 
			 Macclesfield 3 1 5 
			 Vale Royal 2 0 3 
			 Allerdale 2 1 3 
			 Barrow-in-Furness (4)- (4)- (4)- 
			 Carlisle 3 1 4 
			 Copeland (4)- (4)- (4)- 
			 Eden (4)- (4)- (4)- 
			 South Lakeland 1 0 2 
			 Burnley 1 0 3 
			 Chorley 1 0 2 
			 Fylde 1 0 3 
			 Hyndburn (4)- (4)- (4)- 
			 Lancaster 2 0 3 
			 Pendle 1 0 2 
			 Preston 2 1 4 
			 Ribble Valley 2 0 3 
			 Rossendale (4)- (4)- (4)- 
			 South Ribble 3 1 5 
			 West Lancashire 1 0 3 
			 Wyre 2 1 4 
			 (1) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. (2) Children under 16 and those aged 16-18 who have never married and are in full-time education. (3) 95 per cent. certainty that the true estimate would lie within the lower and upper bounds. (4) Sample size too small to provide an estimate.  Source: APS household datasets

Retail Trade: Closures

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many high street shops have closed in  (a) England and  (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of high street shops which have closed in (a) England and (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008 (303715).
	ONS does not have statistics on the number of high street shops. Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at www.statistics.gov.uk. The table below contains the latest statistics available on business deaths of retail businesses for England and the constituency of North East Cambridgeshire. All counts are based on enterprises and not local units (i.e. sites). Where a local unit closes but the enterprise continues to trade at other sites, a death will not be recorded in this data.
	
		
			  Count of deaths of enterprises for  2008 -Retail by England and North East Cambridgeshire constituency 
			England  North East Cambridgeshire 
			  Retail 20,765 40 
			 471 Retail sale in non-specialised stores 4,050 10 
			 472 Retail sale of food; beverages and tobacco in specialised stores 3,190 5 
			 473 Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores 425 0 
			 474 Retail sale of information and communication equipment in specialised stores 570 0 
			 475 Retail sale of other household equipment in specialised stores 2,430 5 
			 476 Retail sale of cultural and recreation goods in specialised stores 990 0 
			 477 Retail sale of other goods in specialised stores 6,680 15 
			 478 Retail sale via stalls and markets 250 0 
			 479 Retail trade not in stores; stalls or markets 2,180 5

Third Sector: Finance

Tom Levitt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much the Office of the Third Sector originally allocated in its budget to provide grants and funding for the voluntary and community sector for the 2009-10 financial year; how much of this has so far been allocated; and how much remains for the rest of the financial year.

Angela Smith: The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) grant allocations for 2009-10 are set out in the Cabinet Office Main Estimates and updated in the Winter Supplementary and Spring Supplementary Estimates. Expenditure on grants for the third sector will be set out in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts, expected to be published before the summer recess.
	All OTS funds are allocated to programmes set out in 'The future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration: final report' and for 2009-10 only in, 'Real Help for Communities: Volunteers, Charities and Social Enterprises'.

Unemployment: Graduates

David Willetts: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of graduates were unemployed six months after obtaining their degree in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of graduates were unemployed six months after obtaining their degree in each year since 1997. (304164)
	Estimates for unemployment are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The economic status of graduates six months after obtaining their degree is not recorded in the LFS. However, estimates for unemployed graduates who have gained a degree in the last twelve months are available on an annual basis from quarter 2 2005.
	The information provided in the attached table shows the unemployment level of those who gained a degree in the last twelve months, the proportion who are unemployed and their unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is the number of graduates who are unemployed divided by the number of graduates who are economically active (in employment or unemployed), in accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. Consequently the estimates from Q3 2006 are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release, which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates.
	
		
			  Unemployment level, rate and proportion of people who had gained a degree or equivalent in the previous 12 months, Quarter 2 each year, 2005 - 09, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand and per cent. 
			   Level( 1)  Rate  Proportion( 2) 
			 2005 23,752 5.8 4.8 
			 2006 42,207 8.6 7.4 
			 2007 33,097 6.3 5.5 
			 2008 38,615 7.1 6.1 
			 2009 (***)65,360 11.4 9.4 
			 (1 )Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described below:  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV-for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220  Key  Coefficient o f Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 ≤ CV5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV 20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes (2) The number of people who are unemployed divided by the total population.  Notes: 1. The number of people who are unemployed divided by the number of people who are economically active. 2. It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels mobile home sites, etc.).  Source:  Labour Force Survey

Unemployment: Young People

Damian Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the  (a) numerical and  (b) percentage change in youth unemployment in Ashford constituency was in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

Dawn Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) numerical and (b) percentage change in youth unemployment in Ashford Constituency was in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available (304922).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of unemployment for the requested age range and area are not available.
	As an alternative, in Table 1 we have provided the numerical change and the percentage change in the number of persons aged 18 to 24 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the Ashford constituency, for the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			  Table 1. Change and percentage change in the number of persons aged 18 - 24 claiming  jobseeker's allowance  resident in Ashford parliamentary constituency between October 2008 and October 2009 
			  October each year  Number/percentage 
			 2008 300 
			 2009 625 
			 Change 325 
			   
			 Percentage change 108 
			  Note: Count data rounded to the nearest 5.  Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Finance

Richard Benyon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will issue a letter of intent to repay capped funds withheld by the Learning and Skills Council to the training providers of apprenticeships for those aged 19 years or more.

Kevin Brennan: We have no plans to issue any such letters. Funding of Apprenticeships is the responsibility of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC contracts with FE colleges and training organisations to deliver training places funded up to a maximum contract value. In March 2009, providers were advised in writing by the LSC not to exceed or to further exceed Apprenticeship contract values for adults. Recruitment of new apprentices could continue up to maximum contract values and the LSC has committed to funding the training of apprentices who had already started on their programme.
	The LSC has a clear responsibility to manage its finances within agreed budgets and made it clear to providers that any further commitments above their agreed maximum contract values would not be funded. However the LSC has sought to ensure, through performance management actions, that funding is moved to the highest performing providers. Where possible, for 19-24 provision this has resulted in increases to agreed contract levels, but as demand has been so high for those aged over 25 the LSC has had to continue to take actions to manage demand to remain within the overall funding limits it has available.

Business: Closures

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized businesses have closed in  (a) England and  (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many small and medium-sized businesses have closed in (a) England and (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008. (304578)
	Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at www.statistics.gov.uk. The table below contains the latest statistics available on business deaths for England and the constituency of North East Cambridgeshire.
	
		
			  Counts of deaths of enterprises in 2008 by employment size band 
			   0-49  50-249 
			 England 192,465 445 
			 North East Cambridgeshire (parliamentary constituency) 375 0

Business: Closures

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many restaurants and cafés have closed in  (a) England and  (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many restaurants and cafes have closed in (a) England and (b) North East Cambridgeshire since 1 January 2008. (304579)
	Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at www.statistics.gov.uk. The table below contains the latest statistics available on business deaths for England and the constituency of North East Cambridgeshire. All counts are based on enterprises and not local units (i.e. sites). Where a local unit closes but the enterprise continues to trade at other sites, a death will not be recorded in this data.
	
		
			  Counts of deaths of enterprises for 2008 
			  Restaurants and cafes by England and North East Cambridgeshire  c onstituency 
			  England  North East Cambridgeshire 
			 4,985 5 
			  Note: To avoid disclosure figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Christmas

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has spent £1,144 in 2009 on the purchase and installation of decorated Christmas trees for the reception areas in three of its buildings in central London and Sheffield.

Cybercrime

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to require utility companies which operate within his Department's remit to put in place resilience measures sufficient to prevent cyber-attacks rendering their services temporarily ineffective.

Ian Lucas: BIS leads on policy for critical infrastructure in the communications sector, which encompasses the postal and telecommunications sectors.
	BIS maintains close working links with the telecoms sector on resilience, primarily through the EC-RRG (Electronic Communications Resilience and Response Group) which is industry-led but with Government and regulator representation. The aim of this group is to enhance the resilience of UK telecommunications systems to all types of hazard or threat, including cyber attacks. Part of the work of this group is to carry out exercises responding to emergencies, in order to ensure any recovery can take place as soon as possible. Additionally, CPNI (the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure) facilitates the Network Security Information Exchange, a forum for telecoms industry providers to share information and good practice specific to digital security.
	The Digital Economy Bill also proposes measures to enhance investment in telecoms infrastructure and overall resilience (as part of a report on the overall health of the telecoms system in the UK). These measures will involve sharing information on resilience matters with Ofcom, who will then provide a report to the Secretary of State on the ability of the UK telecoms system to withstand shocks.
	BIS also works closely with Royal Mail on resilience issues and ensures that the company liaises with the appropriate Government agencies (including CPNI) for advice on proportionate measures to protect postal operations from threats and hazards, including risks associated with cyber attacks, and to maintain business continuity.

Departmental Assets

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14; what the  (a) description and  (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The Government have stated their intention to realise £16 billion in asset disposals over the period 2011-14 and will publish further details of opportunities to commercialise business assets and property in the coming weeks.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) currently has planned asset disposals of £9 million in 2009-10 and £21 million 2010-11.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what efficiency savings projects  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: BIS has a significant Value for Money Programme (VfM) for CSR07, with a challenging three year set of targets of £732 million (2008-09), £1,113 million (2009-10) and £2,090 million (2010-11).
	Most of the savings are due to be delivered by BIS partner organisations and examples include:
	the further education sector savings of £29 million for 2008-09 through the modernisation of the further education estate and more efficient procurement.
	Research Council savings of £168 million for 2008-09 include a reduction in the proportion of expenditure on administration, increasing the efficiency of Research Council institutes, growing co-funding of research and post graduate training and re-prioritising expenditure.
	The target for 2008-09 has been exceeded, and we are forecasting the same for 2009-10. Further details of the VfM programme are contained in the BIS autumn performance report, published on 8 December:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/aboutus/corporate/performance/service-standards/page24986.html.
	BIS has a change management programme to drive out the further efficiency savings and improvements in service levels required over the coming years. This programme covers all the strands in the Operational Efficiency, Public Value and Service Transformation Programmes. The focus is on improving workforce planning, sharing common delivery platforms and channels, and making better use of existing infrastructure. This will contribute to the government-wide £9 billion which will be delivered in the next spending period.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's agencies and they will response to the hon. Member directly.
	 Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 9 December 2009:
	The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, what efficiency savings projects (a) his Department and (b) its agencies put in place, under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
	The answer is nil return from The Insolvency Service.
	 Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 27 November 2009:
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 18 November 2009, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Intellectual Property Office is a Trading Fund and as such any savings it makes do not contribute to the Department's budgets. Accordingly, no formal projects under the Operational Efficiency Programme have been launched. The Office is, however, continually looking to improve its efficiency and has just launched two Value for Money Reviews which will identify further savings.
	 Letter from Sarah Glasspool, dated 30 November 2009:
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 18 November 2009, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The National Measurement Office has not been asked to put in place any project under the Operational Efficiency Programme due to the small size of the Agency.
	The Agency has however made a number of efficiency savings for the Department in recent years, not least as a result of the transfer of the National Measurement Unit to the Agency on the 1 April 2009. The transfer increased the staff of the Agency, but resulted in the reduction in back office posts overall. It also enabled other Agency back office resources and accommodation to be used for a larger range of services.
	 Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 9 December 2009:
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 18 November 2009, UIN 300934, to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	As a trading fund Companies House activities are funded from the fees parliament sets for its services and is not directly part of the CSR funding process. Companies House is committed to improving efficiency and has had a public target for efficiency improvement for many years. Our current target is to achieve a 15% reduction in operating costs per company from 2008/9 to 2010/11. In 2008/9 we achieved an 8.4% reduction through a range of activities including increasing the channel shift from paper transactions to electronic, increasing process efficiency, better procurement and cost control.

Departmental Legal Costs

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what expenditure his Department and its agencies have incurred on external legal advice and representation in each year since his Department was established; and for what purposes such services have been commissioned.

Patrick McFadden: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created by Machinery of Government changes in June. From 1 June to 23 November, BIS spent £2.6 million on external legal advice and representation. The information about the purposes for which the legal services have been commissioned is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Chief executives of BIS agencies and NDPBs will respond directly to the hon. Member.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's agencies and they will response to you directly.
	 Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 9 December 2009:
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 18 November 2009, UIN 300581, to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Since the Department of Business Innovation and Skills was established in June 2009, Companies House has paid £3,302 on external legal advice and representation on employment issues.
	 Letter from Peter Mason, dated 3 December 2009:
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 18 November 2009, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Since the formation of the Department in June 2009, the National Measurement Office has incurred £7,000 on external legal advice up to and including 1 December 2009: £6,000 on providing legal advice on land registration and construction disputes and £1,000 on providing legal advice on policy issues relating to hallmarking legislation on behalf of the Department's ministers.
	 Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 24 November 2009:
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 18 November 2009, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Intellectual Property Office, an Executive Agency, of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, spent £23,000 on external legal advice. This covered employment advice and developing proforma IP agreements.
	We have also incurred £38,000 in costs for external legal advice, engaged and paid via Treasury Solicitors, on IP cases going through the legal system.
	 Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 9 December 2009:
	The Minister of State, for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question what expenditure his Department and its agencies have incurred on external legal advice and representation in each year since his Department was established; and for what purposes such professional services have been commissioned.
	The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has incurred the following expenses between June 2009 and October 2009:
	£49,000 on external legal advice concerning contractual matters and
	£3,054,000 on external legal services for investigation and enforcement purposes.

Departmental Training

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which five training courses funded by his Department had the highest per diem rates in the last five years.

Patrick McFadden: Training budgets are not held centrally but delegated to line managers and business units. Decisions are made locally on how the money is spent and this information is not held centrally.
	We are able to provide information for the centrally funded training and the per diem rates are as follows:
	New Leaders Programme: £17,000 for an eight day programme for 14 delegates
	Leadership Management: £1,595 for a 3.5 day programme
	First Time Management: £880 for a three day programme
	Induction: £415 for two to three hours
	Staff Appraisal: £485 for a two day programme.

Estate Agents: Registration

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of estate agent practices which will be required to register with the Office of Fair Trading under the provisions of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007;
	(2)  how many of the estate agents which have registered with the Office of Fair Trading under the provisions of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 have registered  (a) one premises,  (b) between two and five premises,  (c) between six and 10 premises and  (d) 11 or more premises;
	(3)  how many estate agents have registered with the Office of Fair Trading under the provisions of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007; and what steps are available to the Office for use against estate agents who fail to register.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 30 November 2009
	The Office of Fair Trading has estimated that 9,600 estate agency firms (with 14,400 branches) will be active in the estate agency market at the close of the six month registration period (January 2010) and be required to register with the OFT.
	Estate agents who have registered with the OFT for money laundering purposes fall into the following categories:
	 (a) one premise: 1,180
	 (b) between two and five premises: 334
	 (c) between six and 10 premises: 30
	 (d) 11 or more premises: 26
	1,570 estate agents have registered with the OFT. Those who are not registered by 31 January 2010 will be breaking the law. Failure to register can result in a fine and/or imprisonment.

Further Education: Admissions

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many places at further education colleges were unfilled due to last minute cancellations in the last year for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department or its predecessor was.

Kevin Brennan: Information is collected on the number of enrolments at each FE college which influences the amount of funding paid out by the Learning and Skills Council. FE colleges are not required to provide information on the number of unfilled places.

Grocery Trade: Complaints

David Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department will decide on the Competition Commission's recommendation on the establishment of a Groceries Supply Code of Practice Ombudsman.

Kevin Brennan: The Government intend to respond to this recommendation shortly.

Internet: Security

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department plans to hold  (a) residential customers and  (b) businesses legally responsible for the security of their wireless internet router under the provisions outlined in the Digital Economy Bill.

Stephen Timms: No one will be held legally responsible for the security of their wireless router under the provisions in the Digital Economy Bill.

Learning and Skills Council for England: Pay

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent on  (a) performance-related pay and  (b) bonuses for Learning and Skills Council staff in each year since 1998-99.

Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council makes decisions about the payment of performance pay and bonuses. Geoff Russell, the council's acting chief executive, will write to the hon. Member for Havant with further information.
	 Letter from Geoff Russell, dated 8 December 2009:
	In response to your parliamentary question regarding, how much has been spent on (a) performance-related pay and (b) bonuses for Learning and Skills Council staff in each year since 1998-99.
	Please see below:
	a) Performance Related Pay:
	The LSC does not link base salary to performance, other than to withhold elements of the pay review from individuals who fail to meet the required standards. Salary increases are dependant on individual position within the relevant pay band and subject to Treasury guidance on pay remit.
	b) Bonuses:
	The LSC has made bonus payments since 2003. The figures below consist of the staff bonus scheme and the executive scheme for the most senior roles.
	Any bonus payments for the staff scheme are made subject to organisational performance that is measured at the Corporate level. Any bonus payments for the executive scheme are directly linked to a range of measures that span Corporate, Group/Regional and Individual performance. For example, in the year ended 31 March 2009, the main bonus driver was that corporate and regional goals to deliver PSA targets were met or exceeded, despite the uncertainties created from the machinery of government changes. More on these achievements can be found in our annual report. This can be obtained at
	http://www.lsc.gov.uk/aboutus/annualreport/annual report0809/
	All bonuses are subject to affordability.
	
		
			  Bonus payment year  Number of employees who received a bonus  Total payments (£) 
			 2003 4,536 3,586,434 
			 2004 3,795 3,340,823 
			 2005 3,964 3,623,257 
			 2006 3,836 4,520,612 
			 2007 2,947 4,214,036 
			 2008 3,160 4,652,723 
			 2009 3,106 4,868,463

London Metropolitan University

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocated to London Metropolitan University in each of the last five years; what amount was returned to HEFCE in each of those years due to course non-completion; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: holding answer 8 December 2009
	I will place a copy of this information in the Libraries of the House.

London Metropolitan University

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what information his Department holds on  (a) full-time,  (b) part-time,  (c) drop-out and  (d) course completion rates at London Metropolitan University in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: holding answer 8 December 2009
	I will place a copy of this information in the Libraries of the House.

London Metropolitan University

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking following the consultants' report on the finances of London Metropolitan University in respect of future funding; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: holding answer 8 December 2009
	I welcome the work Sir David Melville and the Deloittes team have undertaken to review the situation at London Metropolitan University, and the lessons we need to learn about how that situation arose. I shall be studying the reports carefully. I look to the University and HEFCE similarly to consider Sir David's findings and the implications for the actions they now need to take. It is imperative that the University and HEFCE act with all due urgency to resolve the problems that have been identified, putting the interests of the students and the proper stewardship of public funds at the forefront of their concerns.

Shops: Closures

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of high street shops which have closed in  (a) England and  (b) Milton Keynes since 1 January 2008.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of high street shops which have closed in (a) England and (b) Milton Keynes since 1 January 2008 (304485).
	ONS does not have statistics on the number of high street shops. Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at www.statistics.gov.uk. The table below contains the latest statistics available on business deaths for England and Milton Keynes. All counts are based on enterprises and not local units. Where a local unit closes but the enterprise continues to trade at other sites, a death will not be recorded in this data.
	
		
			  Count of deaths of enterprises for 2008: Retail by England and Milton Keynes unitary authority 
			England  Milton Keynes UA 
			  Retail 20,765 95 
			 471 Retail sale in non-specialised stores 4,050 10 
			 472 Retail sale of food; beverages and tobacco in specialised stores 3,190 10 
			 473 Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores 425 5 
			 474 Retail sale of information and communication equipment in specialised stores 570 5 
			 475 Retail sale of other household equipment in specialised stores 2,430 10 
			 476 Retail sale of cultural and recreation goods in specialised stores 990 10 
			 477 Retail sale of other goods in specialised stores 6,680 25 
			 478 Retail sale via stalls and markets 250 0 
			 479 Retail trade not in stores; stalls or markets 2,180 20

Students: Loans

Phil Willis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications for student loans were outstanding from the Student Loans Company on 1 December 2009.

David Lammy: The Student Loans Company has released figures to show the levels of processing and payment of Student Support in England for the 2009/10 academic year. The information is available on the Student Loans Company website and includes information, under application status, on applications currently being processed and further information required from student/sponsors.
	I am advised that SLC is still receiving around 1,500 new applications each week.

Unemployed: Qualifications

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of unemployed people between 18 and 24 years old in England whose highest qualification is  (a) Level 4,  (b) Level 3,  (c) Level 2 and  (d) below Level 2.

Kevin Brennan: The following table gives estimates of the highest qualification breakdown of ILO unemployed people aged 18 to 24 in England. These data are from the quarter 3 (July to September) 2009 Labour Force Survey.
	
		
			  Qualification levels of ILO unemployed people aged 18 to 24, England 
			   Percentage 
			 Level 4 and above 20.7 
			 Level 3 22.8 
			 Level 2 23.9 
			 Below level 2 23.8 
			 No Qualifications 8.7 
			  Base: People aged 18 to 24, England  Source: Quarter 3 2009 Labour Force Survey

Universities

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with  (a) the Privy Council and  (b) Universities UK on the use of the title university in relation to university technical colleges, as referred to in paragraph 27 of his Department's paper Skills for Growth.

David Lammy: The Department has not had any discussions with the Privy Council or Universities UK on the use of the term 'university' in relation to university technical colleges. I have, however, been engaged in discussions with GuildHE over the use of term 'university' in a number of different ventures and been in correspondence with them over the new university technical college proposal.

JUSTICE

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  with reference to the answer of 9 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 137-8W, on penalty notices for disorder, on what date the consultation on publishing information on reoffending will  (a) open and  (b) close;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of penalty notices for disorder given to those with previous  (a) convictions and  (b) penalty notices for disorder.

Claire Ward: The Ministry of Justice is currently finalising its consultation on plans to publish a range of reoffending related analyses that are not currently published. The consultation will be issued as soon as possible.
	Due to concerns over the alleged inconsistent use of PNDs by the police the Justice Secretary has recently announced a review of the use of out-of-court disposals. The review will examine evidence on the use and enforcement of out-of-court disposals including PNDs and will report back to Parliament in due course.

Christmas

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009.

Michael Wills: The budgeted cost of Christmas trees and decorations for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) headquarters locations for 2009 is £1,466 inclusive of VAT. This includes £200 on lights to decorate the trees which will be re-used in future years.
	The information for agencies can be gathered only at a disproportionate cost. All four MoJ agencies (National Offender Management Service; HM Courts Service; Tribunals Service and Office of the Public Guardian) have regionalised structures. Each individual building orders its own trees and decorations.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority takes account of budgetary constraints in determining the level of awards it wishes to make.

Jack Straw: The levels of the awards the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) makes are set out in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008. Accordingly, CICA must make awards based on these tariff levels, where the relevant criteria are met.

Crown Dependencies

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on what date the Ministry of Justice issued advice to Government departments to  (a) always consult his Department's Crown Dependencies Branch before making any statements on answers to parliamentary questions about Crown Dependencies and  (b) where a UK policy initiative requires consultation with Crown Dependencies, to allow sufficient time for their governments to make consultation effective; on what date and in what manner he received notification from the Department of Health prior to its decisions to abrogate the reciprocal NHS arrangements with (i) Guernsey and Jersey with effect from 1 April 2009 and (ii) the Isle of Man from 1 April 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: Advice on consultation with the Ministry of Justice regarding the Crown Dependencies was circulated to all Departments in June 2006 and has been available on departmental websites since that time. It is currently being updated and will be re-circulated to all Departments in the new year. Officials in the Department of Health and the Ministry of Justice liaised on the UK Government's decision to withdraw from bilateral health agreements with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man from February 2008.

Domestic Violence: Greater Manchester

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of offences related to domestic violence in  (a) Bolton and  (b) Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.

Vera Baird: I have been asked to reply.
	The following number of people have been convicted of offences relating to domestic violence in Bolton in each of the last four years:
	
		
			   Convictions 
			 2006 222 
			 2007 225 
			 2008 221 
			 2009 281 
		
	
	The following number of people have been convicted of offences relating to domestic violence in Greater Manchester in each of the last four years:
	
		
			   Convictions 
			 2006 2,188 
			 2007 2,873 
			 2008 2,992 
			 2009 3,111 
		
	
	Due to improvements made in respect of domestic violence identification from 2006, no complete or comparable data are available for earlier periods.

Driving Offences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many drivers convicted of driving without insurance in each police authority area in each year since 1997 had previous convictions for the same offence.

Jack Straw: The information requested is in the table. Figures before 2000 are not available.
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			  Number of offenders convicted of driving without insurance in each year and in each police force( 1)  who at the time of their conviction had at least one previous conviction for the same offence 
			  Number of offenders 
			  Police Force  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Avon and Somerset(2) 10 7 17 235 734 779 784 712 620 
			 Bedfordshire 322 391 430 524 473 458 436 338 259 
			 Cambridgeshire 259 270 305 404 398 350 347 288 230 
			 Cheshire 558 562 629 680 682 507 522 468 339 
			 City of London 47 64 92 117 100 112 107 81 50 
			 Cleveland 420 432 491 541 579 529 434 376 346 
			 Cumbria 259 317 318 361 343 256 216 208 167 
			 Derbyshire 503 561 655 719 721 572 484 459 359 
			 Devon and Cornwall 565 590 708 791 649 614 525 460 406 
			 Dorset 343 342 380 450 442 433 348 285 247 
			 Durham 463 485 581 646 592 491 388 391 332 
			 Dyfed-Powys 249 260 285 281 256 229 213 193 180 
			 Essex 653 715 798 878 792 777 764 799 658 
			 Gloucestershire 291 307 326 338 357 290 309 228 203 
			 Greater Manchester 2,524 2,691 2,534 2,707 2,718 2,289 1,895 1,644 1,293 
			 Gwent 563 538 522 580 535 527 476 381 307 
			 Hampshire 817 834 931 999 854 766 639 638 513 
			 Hertfordshire 350 326 394 443 476 504 522 376 335 
			 Humberside 625 628 621 789 775 744 666 535 430 
			 Kent 658 736 817 872 799 715 709 682 595 
			 Lancashire 1,077 1,103 1,367 1,537 1,263 1,208 1,084 901 693 
			 Leicestershire 754 771 883 961 925 683 520 429 320 
			 Lincolnshire 269 257 280 353 393 310 330 254 227 
			 Merseyside 1,112 1,172 1,295 1,506 1,478 1,357 1,140 894 738 
			 Metropolitan police 2,251 2,446 3,088 3,674 4,193 4,248 4,429 4,267 4,062 
			 Norfolk 335 388 428 459 401 335 278 303 272 
			 North Wales 329 354 398 545 497 442 342 295 206 
			 North Yorkshire 321 323 344 418 402 413 334 271 230 
			 Northamptonshire 444 438 439 435 453 345 271 290 228 
			 Northumbria 1,257 1,326 1,319 1,483 1,348 1,301 1,216 1,044 857 
			 Nottinghamshire 938 958 957 1,278 1,227 1,019 846 681 587 
			 South Wales 1,253 1,475 1,653 1,774 1,723 1,426 1,283 1,032 825 
			 South Yorkshire 1,075 1,116 1,202 1,271 1,187 1,014 938 827 645 
			 Staffordshire 603 661 741 859 813 750 656 552 511 
			 Suffolk 244 264 329 400 383 317 286 220 164 
			 Surrey 267 293 322 353 328 336 321 294 252 
			 Sussex 492 547 590 622 613 579 560 609 444 
			 Thames Valley 724 828 1,038 1,032 981 852 777 795 722 
			 Warwickshire 215 257 287 289 327 279 242 245 191 
			 West Mercia 495 537 569 633 625 620 537 440 368 
			 West Midlands 2,378 2,652 3,045 3,312 3,500 3,118 2,737 2,269 1,706 
			 West Yorkshire 1,945 1,894 2,011 2,262 2,167 1,745 1,391 1,214 1,049 
			 Wiltshire 247 282 313 313 287 251 241 157 151 
			   
			 England and Wales 29,504 31,398 34,732 39,124 38,789 34,890 31,543 27,825 23,317 
			 (1)( )Each offender is counted only once in each police force in each year. (2) The numbers of convictions for driving without insurance recorded by Avon and Somerset in the data held by the Ministry of Justice are very low for the years 2000-03 and should be treated with caution.

Driving Offences

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in each police authority area were disqualified from driving as a result of drink-driving offences in each of the last 10 years.

Claire Ward: The number of disqualifications imposed at all courts for offences of driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs in England and Wales, by police force area, from 1998 to 2007 (latest available), is given in the following table.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	
		
			  The number of disqualifications imposed at all courts for offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs, England and Wales, from 1998 to 2007( 1,2) 
			  Number of offences 
			   1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,430 2,596 2,360 2,099 2,298 2,577 2,599 2,328 2,286 2,397 
			 Bedfordshire 993 820 756 857 899 1,013 1,016 987 1,073 994 
			 Cambridgeshire 972 869 721 742 782 879 1,042 1,164 1,221 1,201 
			 Cheshire 1,790 1,698 1,555 1,429 1,853 1,784 1,906 1,432 1,732 1,708 
			 Cleveland 825 758 729 824 831 897 956 884 954 879 
			 Cumbria 762 809 739 703 718 781 845 804 816 801 
			 Derbyshire 1,421 1,367 1,309 1,264 1,365 1,508 1,748 1,540 1,424 1,358 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,136 2,160 2,118 2,281 2,347 2,570 2,440 2,210 2,248 2,154 
			 Dorset 1,097 1,059 1,045 1,063 1,121 1,201 1,198 1,089 1,111 1,134 
			 Durham 956 1,098 1,061 1,029 1,075 1,101 1,179 1,096 951 988 
			 Essex 2,241 2,331 2,265 2,273 2,346 2,400 2,657 2,429 2,569 2,433 
			 Gloucestershire 911 818 728 813 852 834 870 790 777 683 
			 Greater Manchester 4,323 4,416 4,431 4,329 4,387 4,444 4,471 4,410 4,369 4,282 
			 Hampshire 3,358 3,487 3,294 3,297 3,654 3,513 3,584 2,892 2,767 2,855 
			 Hertfordshire 1,570 1,584 1,491 1,600 1,810 1,799 1,776 1,756 1,791 1,710 
			 Humberside 1,249 1,239 1,277 1,184 1,314 1,356 1,512 1,505 1,450 1,004 
			 Kent 2,361 2,436 2,395 2,424 2,582 1,456 2,825 2,552 2,646 2,650 
			 Lancashire 2,774 2,798 2,441 2,174 2,465 2,516 2,570 2,571 2,646 2,632 
			 Leicestershire 1,384 1,506 1,435 1,437 1,556 1,618 1,602 1,496 1,385 1,373 
			 Lincolnshire 919 885 775 836 810 1,064 1,160 1,096 1,180 1,186 
			 London, City of 285 228 150 156 209 223 164 177 152 178 
			 Merseyside 2,225 1,981 1,945 2,001 2,105 2,475 2,529 2,612 2,444 2,190 
			 Metropolitan police district 12,958 11,633 11,048 10,607 12,140 11,910 12,351 12,134 12,307 11,510 
			 Norfolk 1,001 947 872 1,065 1,179 1,216 1,178 1,217 1,261 1,186 
			 Northamptonshire 725 836 730 375 212 757 878 720 948 834 
			 Northumbria 2,241 2,243 2,408 2,297 2,373 2,527 2,491 2,267 2,361 2,275 
			 North Yorkshire 1,120 1,050 1,021 1,015 1,071 1,139 1,054 1,184 1,176 1,126 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,677 1,697 1,620 1,504 1,324 1,562 1,568 1,518 1,612 1,448 
			 South Yorkshire 1,878 1,803 1,974 1,905 1,819 1,950 2,100 2,103 1,917 1,916 
			 Staffordshire 1,844 1,592 1,777 1,431 1,592 1,633 1,629 1,618 1,567 1,605 
			 Suffolk 955 1,002 828 854 1,022 1,099 1,191 991 1,053 958 
			 Surrey 1,279 1,362 1,487 1,549 1,564 1,403 1,435 1,446 1,366 1,488 
			 Sussex(3) 1,998 2,119 2,014 2,250 2,224 2,343 (3)2,412 2,298 2,381 2,389 
			 Thames Valley 3,707 3,527 3,348 3,137 4,147 3,752 3,405 3,356 3,292 3,216 
			 Warwickshire 739 816 747 846 799 890 826 793 858 929 
			 West Mercia 1,681 1,632 1,530 1,610 1,623 1,686 1,697 1,810 1,876 1,781 
			 West Midlands 5,155 4,388 4,257 4,475 4,628 4,864 5,230 5,359 5,252 5,204 
			 West Yorkshire 3,370 3,307 3,143 2,987 3,276 3,449 3,626 3,574 3,284 3,102 
			 Wiltshire 1,022 930 873 966 938 950 949 899 958 746 
			 Dyfed Powys 931 874 777 811 856 920 919 866 867 850 
			 Gwent 1,088 983 1,084 1,051 983 1,055 1,108 993 1,081 990 
			 North Wales 1,211 1,147 1,242 1,153 1,165 1,253 1,265 1,262 1,247 1,233 
			 South Wales 2,629 2,286 2,485 2,574 2,573 2,646 2,666 2,639 2,534 2,431 
			
			 England and Wales 86,191 83,117 80,285 79,277 84,887 87,013 90,627 86,867 87,190 84,007 
			 (1)It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete.  (2)Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are use.  (3)Figures given are not as originally published within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin Motoring Offences and Breath Test Statistics, England  Wales, 2004, which was released on 30 March 2006. The figures originally released in the above named publication were, due to a processing error, incorrect.   Source:  Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Driving Offences

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in each region of England have been convicted of  (a) a motoring offence that resulted in a fatality and  (b) careless driving in each of the last two years.

Claire Ward: Data on the number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences of causing death by driving and for careless driving, by English Government office region, for 2006 and 2007 (latest available) are given in Tables 1 and 2.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	
		
			  Table 1: The number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences of causing death by driving( 1) , by Government office region in England, 2006 and 2007( 2,3) 
			   2006  2007 
			 North East 10 9 
			 North West 31 39 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 41 36 
			 East Midlands 27 31 
			 West Midlands 32 32 
			 East of England 28 32 
			 London 29 24 
			 South East 53 58 
			 South West 20 22 
			 England 271 283 
			 (1) Includes offences of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs. A separate offence of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving came into effect in 2008. (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: The number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences of careless driving( 1) , by Government Office Region in England, 2006 and 2007( 2,3) 
			   2006  2007 
			 North East 932 1,253 
			 North West 2,616 3,855 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,467 2,600 
			 East Midlands 1,234 2,126 
			 West Midlands 2,304 3,689 
			 East of England 2,937 4,123 
			 London 2,415 3,942 
			 South East 2,379 3,334 
			 South West 1,920 2,184 
			 England 18,204 27,106 
			 (1) Includes offences of use of hand held mobile phone while driving. Tough new penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving and for failing to have proper control of a vehicle came into effect on 27 February 2007. (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice

Drugs: Sussex

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been found guilty of offences of drug  (a) possession and  (b) dealing in (i) Sussex and (ii) Lewes constituency in each year since 1997.

Jack Straw: The number of persons found guilty at all courts in the Sussex police force area for offences of possession, and supplying or offering to supply, a controlled drug, from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Data are not available at parliamentary constituency level.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	
		
			  Number of persons found guilty at all courts in the Sussex police force area for offences of possession, and supplying or offering to supply, a controlled drug, from 1997 to 2007( 1, 2) 
			  Offence description  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Having possession of a controlled drug 525 533 475 433 581 621 593 476 510 524 638 
			 Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply 104 102 84 54 72 96 103 71 61 72 113 
			 Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug 45 66 46 31 25 55 57 70 164 152 103 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice.

Elections: Armed Forces

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements have been made to enable members of the armed forces to participate in the 2010 general election through  (a) campaign contact by candidates (i) in person and (ii) through literature and  (b) voting in (A) the UK, (B) other European Union member states and (C) overseas beyond the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: With respect to campaign contact by candidates, the Queen's Regulations prohibit all forms of political activity, including political meetings and speeches, in service establishments. Canvassers may visit at the discretion of the commanding officer, but no material issued by or on behalf of a political party may be distributed in service institutions. There is good internet access in service establishments, including those overseas, and personnel may access campaign information in this way. They may also access television election broadcasts. Campaign literature may be sent to those electors who have a UK address on the electoral register.
	The Government are committed to supporting electoral participation by service personnel and their families. Service personnel may vote in person, by post or by proxy. The declaration period for service voters is to be extended from three years to five as soon as parliamentary time allows, which will increase convenience for these voters. However, service voters face unique challenges in exercising their vote. I recently met armed forces families' representatives and MPs to discuss service voting and a range of suggestions were made to further assist service personnel and their families. I have also set up a working group to consider possible improvements to the current system for this election and to identify a more comprehensive solution to be taken forward in the next Parliament.

Fines

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 768-70W, on fines, for what reason the publication of data for 2008 on penalty notices for disorder will not take place before the end of January 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Ward: 'Criminal Statistics, England and Wales' is an annual national statistic publication covering a range of pre-court disposals (including penalty notices for disorder), court proceedings and outcomes. The publication is normally scheduled for late autumn of the following year to which it refers. The length of time from end of the year to publication is due to the extensive validation checks that are carried out to ensure where possible individual data are consistent with both legislation and the actual outcome at court. This requires direct liaison with court staff to confirm the accuracy of these data.
	The Ministry of Justice had pre-announced, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, that the publication covering data for the calendar year of 2008 would be released in November 2009. Since announcing this date, data quality issues were encountered. To allow sufficient time to resolve these issues the publication was delayed. An update on the delay of this publication was released on the Ministry of Justice website on 9 October 2009.
	The publication of Criminal Statistics is planned for publication on 28 January 2010.

Freedom of Information: Network Rail

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reason Network Rail was not made subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a result of his recent review of the scope of the Act.

Jack Straw: On 16 July 2009, the Government published their response to the consultation on extending the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) to cover additional bodies by way of a section 5 order. The Government response proposed an initial, focused section 5 order and noted their intention to consult Academies, ACPO, Financial Ombudsman Service and UCAS on their possible inclusion in such an order.
	The Government made clear that this was an initial step and further consideration would be given to how other bodies, for example, Network Rail might also be brought within the scope of the freedom of information regime. In certain cases, it may be more appropriate to use primary legislation rather than a section 5 order.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications were received for the position of  (a) chairperson and  (b) board member of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority; how many applicants were shortlisted; and when he expects further appointments of board members to be made.

Jack Straw: As set out in the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, the appointment of members to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is a matter for Mr. Speaker, the Speaker's Committee for the IPSA and the House itself.

Information Commissioner's Office: Secondment

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of people working in the Information Commissioner's Office are secondees from  (a) his Department,  (b) the Cabinet Office and  (c) other Government Departments.

Michael Wills: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent authority responsible for enforcing the Freedom of Information Act.
	There are currently no secondees working for the ICO from the Cabinet Office, one from the Ministry of Justice, two from HM Revenue and Customs, and one from the Department of Health. These secondees represent 1.2 per cent. of the total equivalent full-time staff working for the ICO.

Information Commissioner's Office: Secondment

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in work group six in the Information Commissioner's Office are secondees from the  (a) Cabinet Office and  (b) Ministry of Justice.

Michael Wills: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent authority responsible for enforcing the Freedom of Information Act.
	The ICO is supported by four secondees from Government Departments. Within work group six in the ICO, there is currently one secondee from the Ministry of Justice and no secondees from the Cabinet Office.

Judiciary: Criminal Records

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of members of the judiciary have a criminal record; and how many members of the judiciary have been dismissed for committing a criminal offence in each of the last 10 years.

Jack Straw: No record is kept of the number or proportion of the judiciary who have a criminal record.
	The judicial appointment process requires candidates to be of good character. Applicants are required to declare their criminal records, which are checked with the Criminal Records Bureau and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, and for serving judges being recommended to a different post, with the Office for Judicial Complaints. All but the most minor convictions will normally disqualify someone from being appointed.
	Post appointment, judicial office holders are required to report any criminal caution or charge to their senior judge and keep him or her informed of the progress and outcome of the case.
	Information regarding the number of judiciary who have been dismissed for committing a criminal offence has only been collated centrally from 2004. The information is as follows:
	2004: Two magistrates
	2005: Six magistrates
	2006-07: Three magistrates
	2007-08: Two magistrates
	2008-09: Two magistrates and one district judge.

Legal Aid

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice where each  (a) community legal aid centre and  (b) community legal advice network is located.

Bridget Prentice: There are currently five community legal advice centres located in:
	Gateshead
	Leicester
	Derby
	Portsmouth
	Hull
	The Legal Services Commission (LSC) and the relevant local authorities plan to establish the following centres during the course of 2010, subject to successful tenders:
	Manchester
	Barking and Dagenham
	Wakefield
	The LSC and the relevant local authorities also plan to establish the following community legal advice networks during the course of 2010, subject to successful tenders:
	East Riding of Yorkshire
	West Sussex.

Members Expenses

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost has been of establishing the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) including preparation of the report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life on hon. Members' expenses and allowances and the appointments to the IPSA board made to date.

Jack Straw: The new estimate [HC18] laid before Parliament on the 24 November 2009 states that Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority's (IPSA) budget for financial year 2009-10 is £6.571 million. This includes various set-up costs such as procuring and fitting a new building but also includes salaries both for staff members of IPSA as well as the IPSA programme team.
	The report of the Committee for Standards in Public Life records that the cost of its inquiry was £393,000. This is entirely separate to costs involved in the establishment of IPSA.

Prisons: Strikes

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what contingency plans his Department has for the eventuality of a strike by prison officers in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: All prisons are required to have contingency plans in place to deal with refusal to work by prison officers. The National Offender Management Service has a command structure in place to deal with a range of scenarios including strike action.

Prosecutions: Animal welfare

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many animal cruelty convictions there were in courts in North Yorkshire in each year since 1996.

Claire Ward: Information showing the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences involving animal cruelty, in the North Yorkshire police force area from 1996 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	
		
			  Number of offenders found guilty at all courts for animal cruelty offences( 1) , North Yorkshire police force area, 1996 to 2007( 2, 3) 
			   Number of offenders 
			 1996 20 
			 1997 22 
			 1998 33 
			 1999 43 
			 2000 25 
			 2001 19 
			 2002 18 
			 2003 25 
			 2004 17 
			 2005 15 
			 2006 11 
			 2007 15 
			 (1 )The offences of animal cruelty are covered by the following acts; The Protection of Animals Act 1911, Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Performing Animals (Regulations) Act 1926, Protection of Animals Act 1934, Docking and Nicking of Horses Act 1949, Pet Animals Act 1951, Cockfighting Act 1952, Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 1954, Animal Health Act 1981, Slaughterhouses Act 1974, Abandonment of Animals Act 1960, Animal  Animal Products (Import  Export) Regulations 1998, Animals (Cruel Poisons) Act 1962, Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963, Riding Establishments Acts 1964 and 1970, Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967, Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968, Badgers Act 1973, Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 2000, the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006. (2 )The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Sexual Offences

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of serious sexual assault in each region in each of the last two years.

Claire Ward: Information showing the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for serious sexual offences by Government office region, 2006 and 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates; courts and found guilty at all courts by Government office region for serious sexual crimes( 1) , England and Wales 2006 and 2007( 2,3) 
			   2006  2007 
			  Region  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 North East 459 254 432 232 
			 North West 1,156 610 1,201 625 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 645 420 638 440 
			 East Midlands 605 336 547 370 
			 West Midlands 901 455 776 439 
			 East of England 599 341 466 339 
			 London 1,387 508 1,314 547 
			 South East 900 469 915 497 
			 South West 509 299 520 302 
			 Wales 420 194 407 188 
			 England and Wales 7,581 3,886 7,216 3,979 
			 (1) Offences include: Sexual assault on a male Rape or attempted rape of a male and female Sexual assault on a female Sexual activity with child under 13 Sexual activity with child under 16 Sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder Abuse of children through prostitution and pornography Trafficking for sexual exploitation Gross indecency with children (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice

Sexual Offences

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of (i) assault and (ii) sexual assault on teachers in each region in each of the last two years.

Claire Ward: The Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice contains information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales on a persons basis. These data include information on the age of the defendant, their gender, the police force area and court where proceedings took place as well as the specific offence and statute for the offence. Other than where specified in a statute statistical information held does not identify the employment status of a victim of an offence.

Solicitors Regulation Authority: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what payments the Solicitors Regulation Authority has made to Lexington in the last 12 months; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments were made.

Bridget Prentice: The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society of England and Wales. It receives no public funding, and is paid for by the solicitors' profession, including through practising fees. I have asked the SRA if this information is available, and they have agreed to respond in writing directly to the hon. Member.

Victims Advisory Panel

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what remuneration the chair of the Victims Advisory Panel receives;
	(2)  how many people worked for the Victims Advisory Panel in each of the last three years;
	(3)  how much was spent on the Victims Advisory Panel in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: This Victims Advisory Panel is currently chaired by senior officials in the Office of Criminal Justice Reform. There is no additional remuneration for this role.
	The Victims Advisory Panel recruited in July 2006 originally consisted of nine volunteers. Two more volunteer panel members were recruited in 2007 to replace one member who resigned, bringing the total panel members to 10.
	The current Victims Advisory Panel's tenure concluded in July 2009. Four panel members have agreed to extend their membership and continue their work until February 2010 when we expect to appoint the Victims' Commissioner.
	The Government spent the following amounts supporting the Victims Advisory Panel:
	£19,116 in 2007-08
	£46,940 in 2008-09
	£6,692 in 2009-10 (up to the end of October 2009).

Young Offenders: Training

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether offenders under the age of 24 years who are directed to participate in a training course may do so  (a) in addition to a community sentence or rehabilitation and  (b) instead of a community sentence or rehabilitation.

Claire Ward: Young adult offenders aged 18 to 24 may, depending on the circumstances of the offence and offender, be sentenced to a community order. The community order is available to courts on conviction under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and may include a programme requirement, an activity requirement or an attendance centre requirement, among others. The purposes of sentencing set out in the Act include the reform and rehabilitation of offenders.
	A programme requirement requires the offender to participate in a particular accredited programme at times and places specified in the order. Under an activity requirement offenders may be required to take part in activities at places and times specified in the order. An attendance centre requirement means that the offender must attend an attendance centre at the times specified and engage in occupation or receive instruction as required. Some of these programmes, activities, etc. could be described as training courses.
	A court may impose an ancillary order in addition to or instead of a community order. Some such orders for example, a parenting order, may include elements of training. Programme, activity and attendance centre requirements may also be imposed on 18 to 24-year-olds as part of a suspended sentence order.